Stranger Whistles
by TJHECTOR
Summary: 2k12 Human AU. Set in a neighborhood overrun by gang violence. What should Mikey do when he's the only one who knows why Raph has run away from home? Something needs to be worked out in order to restore the family before it's too late. Teenage raw sentiments-more fragile than it seems. Mikey and Raph- centric. Rated for language. COMPLETE.
1. Amazing Whistling Dude

**Stranger Whistles**

**by TJ HECTOR**

* * *

><p><strong>-Summary:<strong>

2k12 Human AU. Set in high school, your worst nightmare, and a neighborhood overrun by gang violence. What should Mikey do when he's the only one who knows why Raph has run away from home? Something needs to be worked out in order to restore the family before it's too late. Teenage raw sentiments-more fragile than it seems. Mikey and Raph- centric. Rated for language.

**-Warning:**

Just some curse words. You're warned. And maybe a little violence in future chapters.

**-A/N:**

Hi, it's the author. This story started out as a human version of Nightwatcher story, but gradually expanded to something more. I'm really interested in what kind of teenagers they'd become if they weren't turtles. I'm trying hard not to turn this one into all angsty and dark. Yeah, I want to include more brotherly fluff and capture the warm scent of home...

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans?)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: Amazing Whistling Dude<strong>

_[Michelangelo]_

It was late at night when my second-eldest brother and I got out of the movie theatre. It was fun, just the regular kind of movie Raph and I would enjoy—muscle-showing actions, scums crying and running for their lives, good guys winning as usual, and some hot scenes with a couple of blond chicks. If I went to the movies with Don or Leo we probably would watch other kinds of movie like sci-fi or suspense, that'd be great, too. But sometimes you just like watching movie with Raph. He wouldn't talk much like Don did sometimes ("Could somebody turn the commentary track off?" Leo would remark kindly but sarcastically.), but he always did something that would make you feel like he's having a real good time hanging out with you. Like when some scumbags just got punched in face, Raph'd chuckled in his silent style next to me and whispered, "_didja see that?_" Well, for a sturdy, ill-humored sixteen-year-old who constantly ran away from home, it was good enough. I'd always cherish it.

It was an accident that we had decided to go into the theatre tonight. Well, it was actually an accident that I ran into Raph on my way home in the first place. He had not showed up for almost three days now. And now I was still wondering whether he's coming home with me or not.

Now we were just walking toward the direction of our block. I guessed Raph wasn't going home tonight after all. He was maybe just making sure I got home alright. Our neighborhood hadn't been a safe place to wander around after dark ever since gang violence worsened and crime rate glided high these years.

"So, Raph, will ya come home tonight?" When we were close to our apartment building, I asked carefully and hesitantly.

He did not look at me; he just kept walking, green eyes staring into the distance.

"Raph? Ya know, Leo's probably worried about ya or somethin', and Dad…"

"I got somethin' to do." He said expressionlessly.

"Ya goin' to hang out with Casey again?"

"Yeah."

"What's so important?" I asked, probably a little too suspiciously, because he suddenly turned to glare at me.

"It's none o' your business, Mike." He snorted.

"Alright, I got it." I tried to smile. "But are you considerin' or somethin'?"

"Considerin'…what?"

"Going home?"

He stopped walking abruptly and turned to face me.

"Seriously, yer a spy or what? How much did Lame-o-nardo pay you?"

"Two bucks?" I shrugged, grinning. "Just kiddin', man! Leo didn't make me do this!"

"Okay." He crossed his arms, still looking pissed.

"Come on, Raph! I really wanna know! When will you come back?"

His face darkened, and I was preparing for the worst. But he just snapped and quickly walked away.

"Good-night, Mikey. Oh wait, do me a favor, don't tell Fearless and next time I'll treat you ta sundae."

I watched him until he was completely vanished in the darkness.

O-O-O

"Mikey!" someone called when I closed the door behind me.

I smiled at the scent of our sweet home. (Home sweet home. Ain't it the best place in the world?) It wasn't a big apartment; me and Donnie shared a room while Leo and Raph shared the other. Our father was out visiting an old friend who just settled down in Philadelphia, and it was highly possible that we wouldn't be seeing him until weekend.

"Hey Donnie. What ya up to?"

"Revising that paper I need to present at tomorrow's seminar." My over-six-foot-tall, dark-reddish-brown haired brother replied, his head burying in a pile of notes. He had this huge desk (which he was now sitting in front of it) occupying one-third of space in the small living room, and it's basically his natural habitat. Donnie's pretty smart (obviously I did not do him justice by describing him as 'smart'.). He was also sixteen, but he's studying in graduate school now.

"Well, ugh, go get 'em, Donny-boy." I patted him on his back, sending his head smashing into that pile of notebooks. I chuckled.

"Mikey, don't disturb him."

I turned and saw Leo standing at the corner or our living room, leaning against the wall and facing the TV screen.

"That's why you turn the TV mute? …oh, are you watching that _space traveler Ryan_ show again?"

"It's called _Space Heroes_ and it's _Captain Ryan_, Mikey. By the way, have you seen Raphael?"

"Nope." I said.

"Really Mikey? Why are you home so late?" Donnie yelled from the desk.

"I went to a movie." I said.

"With whom?"

"With…this girl I met, from the…uh, kendo club." Seriously, Mikey? _Have ya forgotten that Leo's the president of the club?_

"Who?" Leo frowned, "You mean, Karai?"

"No, …no! Absolutely not. It's Tanya…yeah! That's her name. She's…uh…Karai's friend." Not Karai,_ I ain't that stupid to oversee Leo the mighty has a big crush on her_.

"I never heard of this girl. You sure she's a member of the club?"

"Of course! She was…pretty secretive and mysterious, that's why she usually goes to late night movies."

"Alright." Leo sighed; he knew when I was babbling and knew better to ignore me. "I'm going to bed. And you should too." He turned away. I heard the door of his room closed quietly.

"Donnie? You gonna be up all night?" I turned and asked Don.

"I'll try my best to finish this before dawn." Donnie replied, yawning.

I looked at his lean, weak, and sleepy figure and an idea crossed my mind.

"Hey, how 'bout I make you some coffee and snacks?"

"That'd be awesome Mikey, but it's already twelve o'clock. I think you need to go to bed now. Don't you have that geography exam tomorrow morning?"

"Ugh, I hate geography."

Donnie looked back at me and gave me his face of "com'on, geography is fun".

"I ain't you, Donnie." I smiled innocently. "Ya know the only subject I enjoy was Art. And I don't even like Leo's condemned kendo after-class training."

"Alright then. If you have no intention to sleep in anytime soon, would you like to tell me about why did you lie to Leonardo?" He smiled smugly.

I put a hand on my cheek and rubbed it feverishly. "How d'you know?"

"You're never a good liar, Mike." Donnie smiled. "But…it's a good thing. Sometimes."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. But let me make some coffee first." I said, because Donnie looked like he could drop from his chair at any moment.

"Thank you, that'd be a big help." He yawned again.

When returning from the kitchen, I only discovered my tired-out brother crouching on his desk, snoring quietly. I set the coffee down on the table, in case he woke up later and had to continue his work. However, I did not leave the room. I pulled a chair and sat down beside my sleeping brother with my legs pulled up in front of my chest.

"Why d'ya have to be so tired?" I asked, knowing he would not hear a word. But I felt like talking. "I thought ya enjoy the grad school and all. And 'bout the lying thing, I ran into Raph after school. It turned out that he did go to school today, but he was goofin' off with Casey in the gym. Where do you think he lives all these days? An alleyway? Heck, he's been wearing the same clothes for days now. That's kinda disturbing. And he doesn't even give a damn. And ya know what? I'm startin' to worry about him."

Donnie was sleeping quite soundly. I though I hadn't finish my story, so I kept talking.

"Oh yeah. And so we went to the comic book store together. And after comic books, we bought a pizza and ate it in the park, like a picnic. After that Raph suggested we watch a movie together. I was a little surprised though. Do ya think he misses us at all? Why did he run away? Nobody's pushing him. School's fine. His homeroom teacher likes him so much she never turns him in when he's in trouble. Nobody ever messes him up in school. Nobody dares. I just don't get it."

I imagined Donnie would say, "I don't get it too."

So I sighed, standing up. "Good night, Donnie."

Presently I was back in my room, sitting on my bed. I took my sketchbook out of my book bag. This was where I kept my drafts of my original comic book ideas. I wanted to have the summary of my next issue done before I went to sleep. The recent story I was working on was called _Stranger Whistles_. The first issue had only twenty copies, which Donnie and his friends helped me printing them out; I sold eighteen copies in school. Well, I enjoyed drawing the story, but I didn't think it was something. It was Raph who told me it was awesome and all and I should keep it up. The plot, too, amused Donnie and Leo, but none of them was as enthusiastic about it as Raph. I didn't know why Raph liked the comic book so much; I guessed he kind of related himself to the protagonist, who was this bad-tempered amazing whistler. It was a sorta strange and disturbing story. The main plot went like this: there was this whistler named _Stranger_—well, obviously it wasn't his real name, which was Kevin—and he could summon his mental strength (_okay_, this one was _totally_ Leo's idea) by whistling and became a butt-kicking hell of a fighter; however, every time he used this whistle-power-thing, he lost something, like, he became short-sighted, cranky and callous to his loved one (Donnie and I worked this one out). He really wanna help people with his super power, but he couldn't afford to lose anything anymore. He tried not to jump into a fight whenever he saw one, but he couldn't help it. When he saw someone was in danger he just snapped and jumped on the evil side. So finally his life fell apart and his family didn't trust him anymore. That's the first issue. In the end of that issue, he was all alone and started calling himself _Stranger_.

Dad said it was a very sad story; he liked it though, and he was glad to know that I could do better than flunking algebra. I didn't think it was sad and all—okay I admitted it was a bit sad 'cause this dude lost almost everything but his belief in humanity (_to quote Donnie_). But geez he was so cool, so strong and stern before his own fear and those street gangs. And he fought alone.

* * *

><p><em>[Raphael]<em>

"I'd say yer little brother seemed a little worried 'bout ya." Said Arnold Casey Jones, taking the hockey mask off his face.

Raphael turned to glance at his friend; he shrugged, jerking the tail of the red mask on his face to remove it.

"There's nothin' ta worry about." He said quietly, looking away. The chilly air on the roof felt pleasant on his skin. The taste of alcohol on the top of his tongue turned into a sensation of dizziness.

"He seems like a nice kid. See him now and then in the cafeteria. Blond kid about this tall, right?"

"Yeah, that's Mikey."

"Not to disrupt the mood pal, but—aren't yer family worried?" Casey said casually, taking a sip from the bottle. "I mean, I at least go home every night."

"Ya mean every other friggin' mornin'?" Raph smirked.

Casey shrugged. "So where ya gonna sleep tonight?"

"Here seems like a good place." Raph looked around the rooftop.

"Ya gotta be kiddin'. Y' 'll freeze ta death."

"I got vodka." Raph shook the bottle in his hand, grinning.

"Man, that's not gonna help. I tried it once on a rooftop. Ended up with a goddamn flu."

"Not so tough when it comes ta flu huh?"

"Whatever." Casey laughed lazily. "God. I wish this night could last forever. The look on their face was fucking awesome man." He shook his head.

"You mean the Purple Dragon goons? Yeah." Raph grinned heartily. "They've never expected someone in this neighborhood would bust their asses."

"It's time ta pay. Time ta restore the order."

"What order? We're chaos."

"That's you, fucking lunatic."

"You sure? I've never seen any guy crazier than you, Jones."

"So, tomorrow night?" Yawning, Casey looked at him.

"Count me in." Raph raised a fist; Casey punched it with a smile.

After Casey left, he sat on the edge of the building for a very long time. It felt funny inside his body; it was not a result from the beating he took though. He only got some bruises and small cuts, nothing serious. It was…maybe internal, he didn't know. He felt edgy. So vexed, and lonesome.

-End of Chapter one.


	2. Rooftop Salad and Miss M

**Stranger Whistles**

**by TJ HECTOR**

* * *

><p><strong>-Warnings:<strong>

Raphael. And, curse words.

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!) and the lyrics I quote.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two: Rooftop Salad And Miss M<strong>

_[Michelangelo]_

Funny thing about me and my bros. We weren't blood-related—not quite true, only Donnie and Raph were biologically related. They were twins. _Really._ Uh, I forgot the word, but they were not the kind of twins that one was _exactly_ identical to the other. Still, it was hard to believe since they were nothing alike—Don was, intellectually, a genius while Raph flunked almost every subject (he did great on art, sports and music though, like me); Donnie was patient and easy-going while Raph was all grouchy and moody. Donnie was the tallest and leanest among us, while Raph was barely two inches taller than me, the shortest one (I hated it sometimes that I still looked like a child); but Raph was the brawniest. The only thing they shared was their almost obsessing passion, Donnie in engineering and Raph in whatever-_that_-is, and the blazing red crimped hair—though Donnie's was of a darker shade. Despite Don and Raph, we all came from different backgrounds. Master Yoshi, martial artist and owner of the Hamato dojo, took us in and had raised us as brothers since infancy.

O-O-O

"Good mornin'." I said drowsily, stepping into the kitchen. I had expected that nobody would be there, instead I saw Leo, looking like he was ready to leave.

"Hey, Mike." Leo glanced at me. He was dressed in his _hakama_ already, with his backpack and kendo gears on his shoulders. "Morning practice in gymnasium. Seven o'clock. I'll see you there."

"I thought we don't have to practice on Tuesday?" I protested.

"Yes, we do. You didn't pay any attention when I was announcing this at the end of our last training session, right?"

Leo always gave his little _encouraging words_ (which, in my head, were equal to _boring blah-blah-blah_) to us after each practice. He really enjoyed this kind of stuff, playing _sensei_. No offense. He was really an awesome swordsman and leader and big brother and all, but…it was so hard to focus on his painfully endless speech.

"I guess your right. Sorry." I smiled sheepishly.

Leo sighed. "You need to pay more attention to things, Mikey."

"Hey, I do!"

"No…I mean, seriously. You have to be more wary of things happening around you, because…sometimes…you lose track of the succession of things and…things fall apart." Leo said slowly and thoughtfully, more likely to himself than me. He was a lot like dad when he said stuff like this; I didn't know whether he did it on purpose or not.

"Yeah." I stared at him as he sighed once more and brushed his black hair out of his sight.

"Your sandwich's on the table." He motioned the table, and left the kitchen. "See you later, Mikey."

"Bye, Leo." I said. Why does he have to leave so early? All right, he's going jogging—even as we had to go through the whole _suburi_ and stuff…He's one hell of a trainiac.

I went out of the kitchen. Since Leo, so rarely, had made breakfast, there's nothing left for me to do. _Should've gotten up later._ I yawned.

It was boring to be up so early with no one to talk to and nothing to do. I went back into the bedroom I shared with Donnie. He was still asleep—a heap under the purple blanket with regular rise and fall—it seemed like he finished his work sometime during the early morning.

"Yo DONNIE!" I yelled at his ear, plunging onto him. "WAKIE WAKIE BRO!"

Donnie was startled, sitting up instantly in the bed. I laughed as I rolled down to his side.

"I finished it professor!" He cried, his eyes still closed, "I swear! I just forgot to bring it. _No_. I wasn't mocking you, but there's _really_ a mistake in your equation…" He blinked several times in confusion, rubbing his eyes. A hint of realization came into his sleepy gaze. "_Mikey_?"

"Nightmare huh?" I smiled.

"That's uncalled for!" He frowned, moaning. "You scared me Mikey. What time is it?"

"Six thirty."

"_God._ Give me a break. I only lay down, like, _ten minutes ago_." Donnie fell back heavily to the pillow.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Go annoy someone else."

"Leo is already at school."

"Go to Raph."

"He's not home."

Donnie sighed. "Alright, I forgot."

"Go back to sleep." I said apologetically. I was really sorry. Honestly.

"Good night Mikey." He mumbled.

So I went out of the room. Not fun.

When I closed the bedroom door behind me and entered the living room, a shadow crept in from the front door.

"Raph?" I uttered in surprise.

He raised a finger. "Shhh."

"It's okay." I said. "Leo's not here."

"I know. Saw him leave." He said.

"What? You're watching us? From where?" I said, staring at him.

"I wasn't monitorin' you or somethin' okay? I just didn't want to run into him."

He said. I noticed there were some darker shades on his black t-shirt.

"You're _hurt_?" I gasped.

"No. Get out of my way Mikey."

"Is that…blood on your shirt?"

"It's none of your business Mikey." He said while went past me into the bathroom.

I hear the sound of water; he was probably washing his face or something.

"Are you going to school, Raph?" I lifted my voice so he could hear me.

"Jeez, Mikey. Are you a mother or what? Leonardo Junior? Yoshi III?" He flung the door open, staring at me with impatient gaze.

He had taken off the bloodstained shirt. I saw there were bruises on his shoulders and over his chest, and some grazes, too.

"You have been fighting?" I gaped.

He pushed me aside and went into his bedroom. I followed him.

"Wasn't tryin' to poke around." I said slowly, "I just…." I sat down on Leo's bed, which was covered with blue mattress and neatly folded blue bed sheet.

Raph did not say anything. He grabbed a clean t-shirt from the closet and put it on.

"It's not my blood." He finally said.

"You joined a gang?" I asked dubiously.

To my surprise, he laughed.

"What?"

He just laughed harder, falling into his own bed.

"No, Mikey." He managed to say through his raspy laughter. "I'm not into gang or stuff like that. I can assure you."

I smiled. "I know. Just kiddin'. You can be their boss if you wanna."

"_You_ must know," he said in a rare, serious tone, gazing into my eyes. "They are good fer nothin' Mikey."

He was serious. My smile faded.

"They are no tough guys. Just a bunch of cowards." He said. "You know?"

"Yeah…"

"Remember that Jake Prince from your class, sixth grade?"

I nodded. He was a big kid, who once cornered me in an alleyway after school. Raph saved me that time.

"He wouldn't dare if he was alone. He wasn't intimidating at all. Not without his _friends_." Raph said coldly. "And now, he's in the Purple Dragon."

"How d' you know?" I frowned.

"Casey told me. Prince's in the hockey team too." He shrugged.

I nodded, shooting a glance at the clock on the wall.

"Oh, I gotta go." I jumped. "Leo'll kill me if I'm late."

"I'll walk with you ta school." Raph said, standing up.

When he was half way to the door, I called. "Raph?"

"Hmm?" He turned.

"I'm really just…worried." I said in a small voice. "And dad, Leo and Don, too."

"Yeah." He said flatly, suddenly became leery.

"Why? I mean, you're not an _outcast_ or somethin' in our home."

He shrugged, pausing for a moment. "Yeah, maybe yer right, little brother." He said lowly, and he went out of the room. I caught up with him.

On our way to school, I thought about the night Raph ran away from home. It was three days ago.

He had been arguing with Leo, as usual. But this time, Donnie had joined the fight—which was rare—and taken Leo's side. I guessed that's why Raph was even more furious. What was worse, Leo had made me choose side, too. I hadn't obeyed him. I knew deep down inside that Leo was right, that Raph should focus more on his grades and stop skipping class, and he should come home earlier instead of wandering off in the night. Leo was only worried about Raph. But his method was wrong. Raph was never that kind of horse you could just put a leash onto.

So they had fought. They had pushed each other. They had crashed into furniture. Luckily dad hadn't been there to witness the scene; he'd be infuriated. But he would have broken them apart before they really hurt each other—they had ended up with Leo's bleeding nose and knuckles and Raph's front tooth knocked loose. Donnie had been so upset that he locked himself in the kitchen. I could've joined Don, but instead I'd just frozen up, standing in the corner of the living room and watching them.

Leo had said something horrible, saying that Raph ashamed the entire family by breaking all the rules and we weren't able to walk around in school with dignity 'cause everyone knew Raphael, the infamous outlaw, was one of the Hamatos. Raph shouted back, saying that Leo was an egocentric son of a bitch.

Their faces were so unlike their normal self whenever they fought.

I wondered what was wrong and _what was gone_ to make them so.

O-O-O

It was lunchtime. Raph met me outside of my classroom. He looked like he had been waiting there for some time. I could tell he hadn't been to any class judging by his vacant gaze and the grass on his jeans—he must have been to the park, sitting on the grass and smoking. On our way to the cafeteria, we didn't talk at all. It was like this with Raph. Sometimes he just wouldn't say anything; it all depended on his mood. So I kept the silence. I was happy to see him, though, considering he had not been home for _days_. I guess he missed us. Once we were there, Raph said, "Go on and get yer lunch. I don't wanna see Fearless in there."

Raph said he wasn't hungry, so we went straight to the rooftop afterwards—roof's Raph's favorite place. Sitting on the edge of the building, I ate my salad quietly while Raph sat beside me, observing idly the streets and pedestrians down there.

When I finished the lunch, I lay down on my back and stared at the sky.

"I think it's goin' to rain soon."

Raph shrugged. I heard the sound of the lighter clicking.

"You shouldn't smoke, Raph. Your breath will be shallow and you won't last long in a fight."

"_Wow,_ now you sound just like Leo." Raph sneered.

"Ha." I smiled. "But I'm serious. Hey, you know what ringtone I set for Leo?"

"What song?"

"_Fearless_." I laughed, "I bet you don't even know who sang this."

"Who?"

"Taylor Swift."

Now he was laughing with me.

"_…__You take my hand and drag me headfirst, fearless..._" I sang in a falsetto, mimicking girl's voice, "_And I don't know why but with you I dance, in a storm in my best dress, fearless…_"

"I bet Leo _loves_ this." Raph was smacking his forehead, laughing breathless.

"I sang this every time he's practicing _suburi_ and running _kata_ alone in the dojo. And he doesn't notice or pay attention at all. He doesn't know I'm singing it to him."

"You idiot." Raph punched my head softly.

"Hey it's fun. I'm testing his ability to focus."

"Like he need it."

O-O-O

When Raph and I trod down the hallway to catch my next class, something happened.

We had been joking and laughing loudly before the door of an office flung open and a women's voice came out:

"_Raphael Hamato?_ I hear you out there. Could you come in for a minute?"

Raph and I exchanged wary glances. The office belonged to Miss Morris, Raph's homeroom teacher I mentioned before.

"Shouldn't 've gotten in here." Raph's face sank.

"It'll be alright. She's cool." I tried to smile.

"Hope so." Raph grumbled, stepping into the office.

I remained outside. Raph didn't close the door behind him, so I could hear faintly the conversation exchanging inside the room.

"How are you lately, Raphael?"

"…Fine." I could easily imagine Raph's pouting expression, the one he wore every time he knew there was a lecture coming.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to ask about your absence on my class."

"That'll be a big help." Raph mumbled.

"I just want to know…is everything going alright between you and your brothers?"

"Yeah. I guesso. If you wanna know this kinda stuff you coulda just ask Mikey."

"I think it will be more accurate if I just ask you."

"…Sure. Why not."

"I heard from Mr. Brennan that you quit the football team?"

A pause. "Yeah."

There was a brief silence. And Miss Morris said rather hesitantly, "…I'm really glad you trusted me enough to tell me, Raphael. But maybe, just maybe you should…"

"I'm not goin' to the police." Raph snapped coldly.

_What does he mean? Police?_

"For the poor kid…"

"They ain't goin' ta help Tim, or anyone. They'll fucking kill him if this thing went to the police." Raph's voice remained low but I could hear the raging edge in it.

"—_And for you_…they won't stop causing you trouble. But we can…_I can_ help you…"

"**_No_**_.__** And ya ain't tellin' nobody nuthin', is that clear?**_" Raph said nervously and harshly, and suddenly his voice softened as he noticed his temper was going off again. "_Shit._ Hey. 'M sorry, really, ma'am. _Sorry._ But…I don't care if they beat the crud outta me…and they won't be able ta do that I can assure you. It's just…the kid, Tim. They'd kill him if they know I let somebody know this, this thing…an' I can't stop 'em. They got_ guns_. They'll fucking shoot him and me and nobody will be able to catch 'em. _Nobody will care_."

_They'll kill him? What's he talking about?_

"I understand, and I _do_ care." Miss Morris sounded a little frightened, but her voice was soft. "I wish I can help you, Raphael. Maybe they have guns, but they are still-"

"I don't know." Raph interrupted, sounded undecided.

"And I hope you come to school more often. I mean, attend the classes."

"Yeah…"

"If there's anything, just talk to me, okay?"

"…Sure, ma'am."

"Take care."

"Thank you, Miss M.." Raph mumbled. I heard footsteps coming towards the door. I stepped back so as to look less suspicious.

When Raph came out of the office his expression looked grave and unsettling. His face was red, his brows pulling tight together.

I did not say anything. It's better not to disturb him right now.

"You'll be fine making it to classroom, right?" He turned to ask me.

"Of course. Hey, I've been studying martial arts practically since I was born."

"Yeah you big goofball master of ninjutsu." He loosened his features and smiled, ruffling my hair. "I'm gonna take a nap on the roof. I'll meet ya after school."

"Later." I sighed, watching him making his way toward the other side of the hallway.

But he didn't show up after school.

-End of chapter two.

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:** Maybe the ringtone joke didn't get you. One night I was at this stand buying a drink and they were playing that song. And it just kept saying _fearless_ and suddenly I thought of Leonardo and I was like...frowning and smiling? Okay. That's just me.


	3. Chinese Food, Rain and Excess

**Stranger Whistles**

**by TJ HECTOR**

* * *

><p><strong>-Warnings:<strong>

Two nutcases, namely, Raphael and Casey Jones, and their mouthfuls of obscenities. Teenage babbling.

And I have no idea what ninth graders learn in school so I just made them up.

**-A/N:**

Hi there! I've considered the tone of the story for some time, and I have to tell you, sadly, that this story is going to get darker than I originally expected it to be. Don't worry though, it won't start before the next chapter and everything will eventually get better. And we can seek refuge in our lighthearted brother Mikey. And still, I didn't label this story under Angst/Tragedy.

And about the characters...I know I said this one is set in 2k12 verse, but I still borrowed a lot of character personality from other incarnations, Casey Jones in particular. I'm not saying that I don't like the 2012 Casey, but my favorite Casey is definitely 2003's.

I got the other story going on and I will finish it, but I need some time since it's the last chapter I want it to be perfect. Presently I'll focus on this story and accumulate any thoughts and inspiration.

_And thank you for your reviews, ducky mikey, Pizza lover 86, tmntlover2013 and Guests!_

So here you go a very long Raphie chapter. Sorry Mikey fans!

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!) and the lyrics I quote.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: Chinese Food, Rain and Excess<strong>

_[Michelangelo]_

"Com' on Mikey, you got this." Donnie tapped the pencil on the edge of his desk. I stared at the pile of files as they shook dangerously each time Don's pencil contacted with the desk. "Six times x plus two equals fourteen. So, x equals?"

I looked at him shamefaced, smiling.

"Mikey?" Teacher Don stared back at me. "Focus."

"…Dude, your files are collapsin'! I can't help it!" I jumped in my chair. Damn this tutor session. Why did dad have to make Donnie teach me math after school? I couldn't go anywhere or get to hang out with my friends.

Donnie sighed. "You were already late, so we only got about twenty minutes today. Next time get home earlier okay? I can't teach you something new in half an hour. Don't wander off to the comic book store." He put the pencil down.

"I didn't go to the comic book store!" I protested in a high-pitch tone. Gah! Sometimes I sounded like my voice hadn't already broken. I had been waiting for Raph, who'd promised to meet me after school. I had waited for him for almost an hour. However, he didn't show up. "I swear!"

"Don't make it a fuss, Mikey. It's not like I'm accusing you or something." Donnie looked at me in dismay. Nobody could endure my screams. Yeah…I knew.

"Sorry. Shouldn't yell." I lowered my head.

"It's no big deal." He shrugged. "By the way, I suppose Leonardo's in charge of dinner tonight?"

"Yeah. He said he would bring Chinese food takeout home after he finished his work." Leo worked part-time in school's library. They all got part-time jobs. Donnie worked for a professor as his assistant. And Raph, oh, he had gotten fired a month ago at this pizza restaurant—he had this tantrum when a customer made fun of his name. (_"What's so funny about it?" He shouted at us when he got back home that night. "Yeah my name's Hamato and I don't look like Japanese and what's so fuckin' funny about it?"_)

"Sounds delicious." Donnie yawned. I looked at the dark circles under his eyes. I sometimes wondered why and since when they were suddenly so grown-up and all, because they were only two or three years older than me—okay, I mean at least Leo and Donnie. They got jobs, they got this tired look on their faces, they gave you lectures, and they sat silently with dad and drank tea…(_alright, the last two ones were Leo's privileges, but trust me I didn't envy him_). Raph was a different case. He still did stupid things like me but unlike me, he seemed to do them _differently_, maybe because he couldn't help it and was always angry or something…all I knew was my anger wouldn't last long.

"You wanna get some sleep Donnie?" I asked. "I'll wake ya up when Leo's home."

"No, 'm good." Don ran a hand through his disheveled, wild short curls—we used to tease him about his hair, since it was all messy and made him look more like a _mad_ _scientist_; he simply refused to get a crew cut just like Raph did, and he sadly didn't have Leo's elegant straight hair or my easy-going waves (_they were good and girls totally loved 'em_). "Got another project to work on."

"Don't tire yourself out, okay?" I said.

"I will be cautious." Donnie gave me a smile. "Thanks, Mikey."

I smiled back, turning away toward the TV. I was afraid that if I stayed beside him for too long, I'd let out my worries for Raph and that'd mean betrayal. I didn't know why I felt that I was obliged to keep the meetings between Raph and me as a secret. Maybe I thought Raph wouldn't tell me anything anymore if I told Leo and Donnie about him.

_But Raph said he'd meet me after school._

I searched idly through the channels for anything interesting.

_Was Raph in trouble?_ I kept thinking about the conversation between him and Miss Morris. Raph said something about the football team, about this boy named Tim and about guns and police. Something was definitely wrong.

I glanced at Donnie, who's bending over his notebook, nose almost touching it. I supposed it's okay if I tell Don? _No._ Raph'd kill me.

But Raph's maybe in trouble. In _danger_.

I remembered the blood on his shirt this morning.

I stood up.

Suddenly the front door was flung open. Leo squeezed through it with his arms filled with paper bags. He even got his overloaded book bag and kendo gears on him.

"Someone wanna help me with _this_?" He panted.

"Chinese food!" I raised my arms victoriously, running to him. "All hail Leo! I'm starvin'!"

_Oh my._ I almost completely forgot about Raph when I saw food.

O-O-O

"How's the story going, Mikey?"

I swallowed the food, flushing it down with the tea Leo had made. Turning to answer Donnie's question, I grinned widely. "It's going _awesome_. You're not gonna believe this! I've already drawn the rough outline of the fourth issue. Number four!"

"How's the guy dealing with his problem?" Leo asked absentmindedly while his gaze still fixed on a slapping-his-crew Captain Ryan on the TV screen.

"What problem?" I frowned. "Oh, you mean, his wife and kid?"

"Yeah, did they forgive him?" Donnie checked a takeout box and found it empty; sighing, he leaned back onto the sofa. "Mikey, you almost ate _everything_. I'm still hungry."

"Sorry, bro. FYI, they're still mad at him."

"Poor guy." Leo muttered. I had no idea whether he was talking about my character or the crew member who just got slapped on face. _Man, Captain Ryan's kinda harsh to people sometimes._

"But he found out who's behind the series of robbery." I said. "It was this friend of his from childhood. He believed Kevin betrayed him for the super power."

"Is that true?" Donnie slurred, his eyelids were drooping.

"Of course not."

"Too bad Raph can't read it." Leo said.

"Yeah." I sighed.

"_This is outrageous._" Leo said to himself suddenly, but it was loud enough for us all to hear.

"What do you mean?" Donnie asked. I was surprised that he hadn't fallen asleep; his head had slumped to one side, and now he was just leaning against Leo's shoulder.

"Raph." Leo frowned. "He hasn't come back for days. He hasn't called. I know he's alright. Saw him with his friend…Casey isn't it...in school yesterday. I don't know, just _what's wrong with him?_"

_Maybe ya have to ask yourself_, I thought coldly, and then startled by the thought. Was I angry with Leo? Heck _no_. I just…_God_. Who could put up with all these yelling and fighting? I couldn't believe it that they were not at least one bit tired by constantly at each other's throat.

* * *

><p><em>[Raphael]<em>

**_-Earlier-_**

He was leaning against the wall outside Mikey's classroom when he saw a chubby boy strolled down the hallway. It was only ten minutes before the bell rang.

"_Tim?_" He called out. Originally he didn't want to stop the boy, but somehow the expression the boy bore made him do so.

The kid didn't stop while Raph was sure he heard the call.

"Timothy Williams!" He called again, walking across the corridor. "Hey Tim! It's me."

The tubby boy finally turned around, and when he saw it was Raph, he let out a breath and tried to smile.

"Hey. Hamato. Didn't know it was you." Tim said nervously, dropping his gaze instantly.

"Yeah?" Raph asked. "Why da I had this feelin' that ya know it was me."

"R-really…" Tim glanced around. "Uh, listen, I'm kind of busy here, so…"

"What's wrong?" Raph took a step closer, frowning. "Ya look like ya just see a ghost or somethin'."

"Hey…" Tim licked his lips and stepped back. "Can…can we not talk here?"

"Why not?"

"'M afraid that the guys might see me." Tim shrugged, his voice low. "Please?"

"Alright." They climbed down the stairs together as Tim led the way. As soon as they're out of the building, Tim quickly hid himself behind a tree.

"What cha doin'?" Raph couldn't help but snorted.

"They might see me." Tim repeated. "The guys."

"You mean, _the football team_?"

Tim nodded.

"Well, you overestimate 'em then. They ain't gonna show up under broad daylight—not in school, that's for sure."

"I ain't as strong as you, Raphael." Tim smiled slightly. "Maybe you are not afraid of them. And maybe you don't have to."

"What da you mean?" Raph approached him until his gaze forced Tim to lift his chin and the two of them were facing each other. "What da you mean by this _afraid_ thing?"

"Have you _forgotten_?" Tim gaped at him with wild eyes. "They _creamed_ me even before you got in. A-and then the coach…" Raph's left eye twitched as he heard the word _coach_, and he half raised an arm to stop Tim from talking.

"They won't hurt ya no more." Raph's brow furrowed. "We got this _truce_."

"_Like_ it still count." Tim's lips pulled down. "_Like_ that's gonna help with you quitting the team."

"Hey, so it's _my_ fault?" Raph hissed.

"I'm not saying that. But you're equipped with martial arts and I got nothin'."

"Com'on, yer bigger than any one of 'em."

"But they are…they're _corrupt,_ _th-they don't have morals_. What am I gonna do with 'em, Hamato? Huh? I just wanna play the games. I…I just wanna train and…do my stuff."

Raphael twisted his fingers and heard his knuckles went _snap_. He thought for a moment.

"Yeah," he finally said, "guess yer right."

Tim sighed, and then smiled bitterly.

"So, whatcha doin' in the hallway? Don'tcha have class?" Raph asked.

"I was talkin' to this teacher. Wanted to ask his opinion. I'm considering transference."

"Like, yer goin' ta another high school?" Raph narrowed his eyes.

"…Yeah."

"So," Raph stared at Tim's troubled gaze, "You just let them _break_ you?"

"I'm not." Tim bit his lip. "I'm just…I just want it to be _different_, and I'm not gonna _go against_ 'em."

"Oh."

"…Really, I gotta go." Tim heaved a long breath. "I'm a…yeah. Hey, w-would you mind keeping me a company? Just…it's only a ten-minute walk to my apartment."

"What? You're _afraid_?" Raph glowered at him.

"Yeah." Tim stared back. "_Aren't you?_"

O-O-O

So, he ended up sitting on a half-rotten bench in the playground nearby Tim Williams' home. He had thought about returning to school for Mikey, but guessed Mikey should have been home by now. He had bought a bag of cookies from the grocery store on the corner of the block and had finished it right away.

Raphael gazed upon the cloudy sky as he recalled Mikey's statement about the rainfall. Mike was right. It was going to rain.

He absentmindedly reached for the cigarettes in his pocket and found an empty box instead. Sighing as he realized he had ran out of money and cigarettes, he lay down on the bench and folded his arms beneath his head.

_Maybe I should go home._

_Not until tomorrow when nobody's there. I could steal some change from dad's drawer._

_Shit. Donnie will be home tomorrow. He doesn't have any classes on Wednesday._

_Alright. Have ta wait for another day._

_Maybe Casey wouldn't mind me spending a night at his place? Com'on it's only a night. Can't sleep on a rooftop in rain. I'm already sorta under the weather._

_And maybe I get to watch some TV. Case's old man won't be home before midnight._

_Geez. Don't you just miss those stupid shows on TV. Even Space Heroes sounds appealing right now._

_Stupid Leo and his stupid cartoon. Arrogant son of a bitch. Wish I could sew his goddamn mouth._

He smiled, and the raindrops started to fall.

O-O-O

_"__Let me in."_

Casey Jones rubbed his eyes and stared out of the window, climbing out of his bed. There was an unmistakable red-haired, stocky figure outside on the tiny terrace, furiously knocking his bedroom window.

"Jesus. He's a _ninja_ or somethin'." Casey muttered to himself. Unless some alien just abducted him and put him inside some other place designed just like their house, they lived on the sixth floor of the building.

_"__Open the goddamn window."_ Raph was saying, but Casey could barely hear him since the rainfall was too heavy.

When Raph finally got inside, Casey collapsed onto his bed instantly, closing his eyes.

"Hey, get up you lazy ass." Raph pushed his friend on the back of his head; Casey grunted, annoyed.

"Fuck off, Raph. I _was_ sleepin'. _I'll_ be sleepin'."

"Got a towel? I'm soaking wet."

"In the bathroom. Make yerself at home since ya've invited yerself in anyway." Casey grumbled in a sarcastic tone.

Raph mumbled a muffled 'thanks', shrugged off his soaked t-shirt and threw it on the floor.

"Hey, Case." Coming back with a towel a minute later, he flopped into the worn armchair beside the bed. "Your dad ain't home, right? Care for some music?"

"He's workin'. What da you wanna listen?"

"Still got that CD I burned last year?"

"Yeah. It's on the stereo or somewhere."

Raph stood up and went to the stereo, which was on Casey's desk (_What does he need that for?_). He found it soon enough. "Man. There's dust all over it. Ya never listen ta it don't ya?" He snorted.

"You bet." Casey answered with a smile.

Raph muttered something under breath.

When the music started, he was already back sitting comfortably in that old armchair by the bed.

"God, it's _good_. Ya got any bottles?"

"Man, you're a fucking _King_. Aren't you." Casey moaned. "If my memory's still intact after I drank like a pig last night, there's one somewhere under my bed."

Raph grinned, crouching down.

"Found it." He sank back into the chair. "Your dad doesn't seemed to mind you stealing from his stock liquor."

Casey rolled over to face him. "Gimme that. I want a swig."

"Really? You just woke up after sleeping all day." Raph passed the bottle to him.

"I wanna get drunk so I could go back ta sleep and don't have ta listen ta you."

"I don't think so. _Time's essence_, Casey."

"The hell ya think so."

"My _smart_ brother says ta me all the time. Gotta cherish time and stay sober." Raph met Casey's drowsy frown with a bright grin.

Casey gave a snort; his eyes wandered around Raph's shoulder. "Man, ya got a lot of scars. Those are old."

Raph shrugged.

"…Yer really tryin' ta get yerself killed, ain't ya." Casey looked at his friend in the eyes. "Tryin' ta _burn out_."

"'M not." Raph smiled slightly.

"Yes, yes you_ are_." Casey sat up on the bed. "_Why?_"

Raph shrugged again.

"You don't worship those guys who died at twenty-seven, do you?" Casey leaned back against the wall, furrowing his brows. "You're really crazy. _Really_. Y' 'll die before twenty."

"I take that as a compliment." Raph snatched the bottle from Casey's hand, taking a long sip.

"You should take that as a _warning_." Casey hissed.

"What_?_ _Everybody so wants to give me a lecture or somethin'?_" Raph put down the bottle, standing up.

"Hey. I'm just worried about ya." Casey sat straight. "Sit down, will ya? I'm enjoying the music."

Raph raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "It's been there since last year."

"It's good. Sorry I haven't discovered it earlier."

Raph hummed along the song. When the next song started, his face lightened.

"Love this one."

Casey glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.

"_…__Doesn't it blow so cold and lonely,_

_oh, and it's blowin' your way…_"

Raph sang, lying back into the chair.

"Man. That's _corny_. Always thought you'd like something rougher." Casey remarked.

"No, it's not corny. You bonehead." Raph protested with a faint smile. "It's fucking awesome. This is punk rock."

"Whatever." Casey grumbled. "Sounds _dated_. Sounds like some country music."

"_…__A thousand shades of gray._

_As it falls, you see it all,_

_…__all that you see._"

"—Man, didn't know you sing. Kinda creeps me out—"

"_…__Comes from nowhere_

_…__can't be explain._

_No one can buy…the wind and the rain…_"

"—Not that kind of bad creeps. These are _good_ creeps. Man, you _can_ sing."

"Yeah?" Raph smiled rather reticently. "Always thought I should start a band or somethin'."

"You can count me in."

"You actually _play_ any instrument?" Raph stared at him in disbelief.

"I learned ta play piano in Sunday school when I was eight years old or so. This old woman taught me. She's really nice."

"Geez. Casey Jones the _great ape_. Can't believe it. Bet you don't even know who Beethoven is."

"_Fuck you_. I'm a gentleman. And what about your singing? Don't tell me you're a secret member of school choir?"

"Of course _not_."

"If you were, you'd be an ape among 'em too."

"I'm a gentleman, too."

"Raphael Hamato, a gentleman? Fuck _me_."

"Yeah fuck you, _Jones_."

"Care for some more _Dragon_ goons tonight?"

"Sure." Raph picked up the bottle, smiling widely. "Sure."

* * *

><p><em>[Michelangelo]<em>

The rainfall and wind were relentless outside, but inside our apartment it was warm and cozy. The rain didn't stop until about an hour ago or so. Leo was doing push-ups in front of the muted TV, and Donnie had finally given in and was lying asleep on the couch; I was drawing on my sketchbook (_I should be studying, I know. But this wonderful idea of the fusion of cowboy and chef just came across and I couldn't resist_). We were all in the living room.

And it was almost eleven o'clock when the phone rang.

"Get the phone, Mikey." Don muttered in his sleep.

"Hey, why always me?" I protested.

"I'll answer it. It might be dad calling." Leo said, wiping his brow with the towel on his shoulder. "Hello?"

The living room was silent besides the sound of my pencil brushing against the rough paper of my sketchbook.

"…I'm Leonardo Hamato, Yoshi's son. …Yeah, I am. All right. I'll be there in minutes." His face was grim when he hung up on the phone.

"What is it?" Donnie asked; he was rubbing his eyes and looking alert. I put down my pencil.

"_…__I knew he'd screw everything up._" Leo said, voice tight and grave.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Leo looked lost, confused and angry. He sat down on the couch, pushing Donnie's legs aside and burying his face in his palms.

"_I knew it. I told him and told him for countless time but he __**wouldn't**__ listen._" Leo's words were blurry but still spitting even through his hands.

Donnie sat up, moving towards Leo. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I took a step forward, eyes meeting with Don's worried ones.

"It's Raph." Leo said wearily. "He's at the police station."

—End of chapter three.

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:** The song is _Meat Puppets_' _The Wind and The Rain_. It rained a lot last week in the region I live. Guess the rain just soaked through my pages.


	4. A Shattered Bottle

**Stranger Whistles**

**by TJ HECTOR**

* * *

><p><strong>-Warnings:<strong>

25 f-words. (I actually counted it and impressed myself Lol)

Meaningless babbling. A lot.

Cruelty and violence. If you think you can't handle this, skip the _first part (in italics)._

**-A/N:**

Thank you all for your kind reviews: _ducky mikey, Guests, cup-mikey-gertha, MissCookiiie, tmntlover2013_!

And yeah cup-mikey-gertha, writing a badass Raph certainly gives me a lot of enjoyment!

I said in the last chapter that this story is getting darker...this is the start of downfall. I hope all of you stay with me! We will pull through this darkness-I'm not gonna say _in no time-_but at least I can promise a bright ending.

Enjoy & review!

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: A Shattered Bottle<strong>

_[Raphael]_

_The rain had stopped finally. And thankfully the lady had gone into the night with her purse and her clothes wrapped up back properly. Now there were only he, Casey and over a dozen of Purple Dragon thugs._

_"__**Let go.**" Raphael snarled dangerously, but his arms were firmly locked in the iron grips of the guy behind him._

_He growled as someone tore off his mask._

_"__Hey. Why didn't I think it was you." The one with his mask uttered in surprise._

_"__Is that HAMATO?" Someone yelled a few feet away. "Look what we got here, it's that Jones guy. Jake said he's from the hockey team. "_

_"__Interesting. And Hamato here was once our beloved teammate, too." The guy in front of him dropped the mask to the ground. "So you know us all along."_

_"__Yeah, Fang." Raph grunted. It's a trap. It's a fucking __**trap**__. Even if Case and him were half wasted after a few shots, he could still tell these guys had been waiting for this chance for a long time. Of Course. He and Casey had been blasting them for over a month now. _

_"__Twenty against two? Yeah, this one is full of Purple Dragon's styl—__**fu…**__" Fang kicked him beneath his waist, and watched his reaction in amusement._

_"__I wanna try that." Another guy came into Raph's vision, and Raph received another series of kicks and punches. The one who grabbed him from behind had loosened the grip and let him fall helplessly to the ground._

_"__I'd like to see you stop playin' hero and be a whining baby." Fang smirked. Raph held up his arms trying to protect himself, but the gang members were around him. All he could see were their shoes and grinning teeth._

_"__Hey, you, hold him still." Fang said suddenly to a heavyset guy standing beside him, "I wanna show you how our coach made him beg. Man, he was a softie, all crying and pleading like a pussy. Bring that hockey mask nut here." Raph felt himself being dragged from the ground, and the guy with powerful wrists were behind him once again._

_Fang snickered. "Hey you there," he commanded a scrawny kid. "Kick Jones in the gut, will ya." Raph watched in horror, as his friend was being pushed to the ground and kicked hard in the lower belly._

_"__Yeah. One more time…very good." Fang ordered. "Now, Hamato, just say it and we won't hurt him any longer."_

_"__Raph, __**don't**__ list…list'n ta 'em!" Casey managed to cry between the attacks. Raph felt his arms stiffened, shaking violently. He struggled to pull free, but there were more hands on him now and he was pinned._

_"__Com'on, Hamato." Fang displayed another savage grin. "I'm waitin'."_

_"'__M sorry…" He heard himself said in a croak, "I shouldn't interrupt your business…"_

_"__Well, ya might wanna speak a little louder." Fang approached him until their noise almost bumped._

_"__I said I'm SORRY." Raph hollered._

_"__And?" Fang pulled out a pocketknife and pointed it at his throat._

_"__PLEASE DON'T HURT MY FRIEND…" He could hear Casey cried out in pain. No matter how he begged, they'd kill Casey. He knew it and it only made him more furious._

_"__And then? I want to hear you say it. 'Stupid vigilantes ain't gonna messes with Purple Dragon no more…'"_

_Raphael repeated Fang's words. The cold tip of the blade slid down a bit, a white, burning pain protruded from between his skin and the knife._

_"__STOP HURTIN' HIM, PLEASE…" He pleaded._

_Fang said something and he repeated as his brain gone blank._

_"__NOBODY MESSES WITH THE PURPLE DRAGON…"_

_"—__Boss, it's the __**cops**__!" Someone whispered._

_"__Let's go." Fang said quickly. The weight pressing and pulling his body was off, and he dropped to the pavement like a ragged, empty bag. Blood and tears blended together and blurred his vision. Somewhere out there Casey's still groaning._

_He heard Fang chuckle before saw him turning his heels and leave._

**_"_****_Nobody messes with the Purple Dragon."_**

* * *

><p>Officer Stern (so wrote on her desk) offered the redheaded teen a handkerchief, but he shoved it away.<p>

"Thanks, ma'am. But I like 'em on my face." He muttered.

His face was covered in blood, which was probably the result of his bleeding nose and his injured forehead. When other two officers were dragging him in through the front door, she had seen him limping. Besides the visible bruises, there was a deep cut on his lower lip and a gash just beneath his collarbone—the front of his shirt had been torn. They had asked him whether he wanted to be sent to a hospital for a detailed check, but he refused. They had to send the other teen to the hospital anyway.

He was humming lowly.

"What song is that?" She frowned.

He met her gaze, pulling his injured lips into a crooked smile.

"A song I love." He singsonged.

"Listen, kid—" She sighed as he interrupted her.

"—Got a name and it's Raphael." He sang.

"Okay, _Raphael._ Listen. The lady said you and the other boy saved her, but you're drunk, and you're fighting with a bunch of teenagers. However, you're just a kid. I have to call your family."

"Am not a kid. I'm fuckin' thirty years old. Ma'am."

"You can't lie to me." She sighed. "You're only sixteen; I knew it already. Now just give me a phone number and your folks' gonna come and pick you up."

"My mother's a hooker. Ya know that?" He sang.

Stern shook her head. "I have to call your family—"

"Donnie hacked into the database of the charity. We saw all the profile. 'Course they didn't say it. But it's obvious. So I guess there's no way knowing who's our father. Bet he's a crazy red-haired punk good-for-nothin'." The teen's bright green eyes looked vacant.

"…Got this chick fuckin' love my hair color. Crazy bitch. Last summer. Always sayin' she wanna ta be an artist like some phony prick…" Raphael chuckled.

She stared at him.

"_…__We broke up after three days because I fuckin' bit her lip and she got scared…_"

Stern put a hand on his shoulder, wanting to stop he from blabbering inanely.

"…And I yelled at her face told her ta fuck off and she cried like a baby. _Fuck._ Everybody so sensitive. Hate it when they all get so sentimental. Pretentious motherfuckers. Bunch of sissies. Have to gather twenty people just to corner two guys. Pussies." He stopped, suddenly looking confused.

"You wanna give me the number of your home?" Stern offered again in a low voice.

"…Yeah, sure." Raphael singsonged. "Of course."

She went to make the call as Raphael lay himself down on the bench, still humming the song he loved.

O-O-O

"Com' on." The dark-haired, tall boy dragged his brother from the bench. Despite the worried looks hidden behind the elder boy's reticent, dark shade eyes, there was no other way to tell the two of them were brothers. They looked nothing alike.

"Yo. Fearless. What bring ya here? We're havin' a…part-ty. Pick yer partner. The dance's about ta _start_…"

"Com' on, Raph. Knock it off."

"…You know what? Ya could totally be a monk, yer so boring…"

"I'm sorry." The boy who claimed to be Raphael's brother turned to face Officer Stern, ignoring Raphael's babbling. "I'll make sure he doesn't wind up in here again."

"Yeah." Stern smiled. "I'm used to it, though. Wait…" She frowned a little. "You don't think he's arrested or something, do you?"

The boy with grave face raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't he?"

"No. _No_. He's not. We just wanted to know what happened…and, it wasn't the best idea to let him wandering out there in the night like this."

"Thank you. Anyway." The slightly older brother nodded, supporting an arm around Raphael's waist as they stumbled towards the door.

Once they were in the car, Leo let his anger emerged to the surface.

"What do you think you're doing, Raph?" He said while getting the engine started.

"Fucking you?" Raph chuckled.

"_Jesus._" Leonardo snorted.

"Screw you, Leo." Raph snapped. "Screw you screw you _sscrrrew youuu._"

"Are you _drunk_?" He smelled the raw, unpleasant scent of blood, but under that, he swore he smelled alcohol.

"Yeah? No. I'm sober._ SSSSoberrrr._"

Leonardo ignored him during the rest of the ride.

* * *

><p><em>[Michelangelo]<em>

Donnie had persuaded me to go to bed. I didn't know why I listened to him; maybe I was afraid of what I might see when Leo came back from the police station. Maybe Raph was arrested and they would send him to jail. Maybe Raph had killed someone.

However, when I heard our front door opened and shut, I sneaked out of my bed immediately. I didn't want to let them know I was awake though, so I just stood beside the door and listened. If I went out there Leo'd probably send me back. I knew they liked to hide _ugly truths_ from me.

"Thank God you're back." I heard Donnie's worried voice. "Wow, that's quick."

"Yeah, they let me bring him home, without much trouble." _Thank God he was back._

"You're okay, Raph?"

"He's fine."

"He can't be fine looking like this…let me grab a towel."

"No, you don't have to, Donnie. Let's just get him into the bathroom…"

Then I heard the door of the bathroom thrown wide, and came the sound of running water.

"_WATCH IT_…_shit_." Raph grunted.

"No, _you_ watch it. Don't you think you have caused enough trouble tonight?"

"Hey, Leo…easy….let me handle this, okay?"

"_Whatever_, Donnie."

"It's just abrasions. …Oh, that's a nasty wound, but we can fix it. You might want to get a few stitches though, so there won't be an ugly scar. But…guess you don't care."

"_Couldn't've cared less…_"

"Yeah? _You don't care_. _That's the problem._ You don't care even if you might get yourself killed, _do_ you? Do you ever care about how dad feels or how Mikey—"

"Quit _yelling_, Leo." Donnie said.

"No, ya know what? _I'd love to_ hear him yell—" Raph was chuckling loudly.

"—You two, stop it. _NOW_!"

Something crashed on the floor.

I heard footsteps, and my bedroom door was flung open; light flooded in.

Donnie came in, his face tired and frustrating.

"Sorry we woke you up, Mikey." He sighed, walking past me. "I just come to pick some clean towels."

"_It's my fault._"

"What?" His footsteps stopped.

"…It's all my fault. I should've told you everything."

"What thing, what are you talking about?"

"I was going to meet with Raph after school, but he didn't come."

"It's not your fault, Mikey. It's his own fault. He should've listened to us in the first place. But, like Leo said, he never listens."

"…_And_ I overheard Miss Morris talking to him. Raph quit the football team. Some guy in the team was in trouble and somehow Raph got involved…and his teammates threatened him…"

"-It's still his fault, Mikey. He could've told us himself. It's _not_ your fault."

"Yes, _it is_. If I told you…if I told you earlier and none of this would happen and—"

"Mikey," Donnie grabbed my shoulders and turned me around so I looked up straight into his clear maroon eyes, "it's _not your fault_, okay?"

My lips were trembling so hard that I couldn't form the words on them.

"Mikey." Donnie's grip on my shoulder tightened. "This thing…it's over. And none of these are your fault. Raph's alright and safely back at home."

I wiped away a teardrop rolling down my chin.

_He'll run away. Again. They're still fightin'. Nothing's gonna change._

But I didn't say these words.

"Yeah. I know." Instead I lied, forcing out a cheesy smile.

Donnie bought it, though. He smiled back.

"I'm going to make some tea." He said. "I let Leo take care of the wounds. Maybe you wanna come with me?"

"Yeah, sure…but I wanna see Raph first."

Donnie shrugged. I turned away, wiping off another tear threatening to fall.

O-O-O

The bathroom floor was white but tainted with dark red blood. A bottle of antiseptic lay shattered in one corner, and the liquid within were spattered everywhere.

Raph was sitting on the floor and leaning against the bathtub, his head drooping low. Leo was crouched next to him.

"Hey, Mikey." Leo glanced quickly at me. "You should go to bed."

I ignored him. "Is he alright?"

"'M fine." Raph muttered. "_Casey_'s in the hospital, though."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Yeah, what happened, Raph?" Leo said motionlessly; it seemed like he had asked for countless times but Raph wouldn't tell him.

"It's nothing. A lady got mugged and we tried ta help her."

"That doesn't explain why y—"

"So what da ya wanna hear? _I got beat'n up like a fucking punching bag?_"

"Yeah." Leo said. "I'd like to _hear_ that."

Raph's face went red.

"**_Alright._**" He roared, standing up. "_I'm so gonna crack your_—"

"**_STOP IT!_**" I cried, grabbing Raph's arm and yanking him back.

"I wanna hear you say it yourself, Raph. It's because your own recklessness you got beaten up like this. It's a lesson learned in the hard way, but it's a valuable lesson…"

"_Ya don't know nuthin'._" Raph smirked, his eyes wild and furious.

Leo stared at him. For a moment no one spoke, and then Leo turned to leave, slamming the door shut behind him.

Raph fell to the bathroom floor, scowling at the door.

I sat down beside him, picking up the wet towel from the basin. But when I brushed the towel against the skin below his collarbone, near his wound, he winced.

"I'm sorry." I drew back instantly.

"Nah. It's alright." Raph waved his hand. "You don't have to do this, Mikey." His voice was soft, but somehow I knew he didn't want me to be there. "Just…go to bed, will ya?"

_He didn't want me to see him like this._

I said in a small voice. "I'll get Donnie for you."

I stood up and opened the door. Before I left, I glanced back once more and saw him stared into the white wall; his lower lip started to bleed again as he bit down hard.

—End of chapter four.


	5. Not A Stain

**Stranger Whistles**

**by TJ HECTOR**

* * *

><p><strong>-Warnings:<strong>

2 f-words. (25 to 2. Improvement! Or maybe thanks to a sober Raph)

**-A/N:**

_MissCookiiie, _Guest, Raigon,_ _cup-mikey-gertha, _tmntlover2013, _InsaneDutchGirl, and ducky mikey,_ thank you all for your reviews! I'm so happy to see you enjoy the story! _I've been enjoying writing it, too! 'Cause my last story, _The Trial of the Lost,_ was kinda heavy and I need some fresh air! Some teenage raw sentiments to cheer me up. Haha.

I rewrote the summary because the original one totally sucks. Summaries are hard to write! If I only knew how to write them well I wouldn't be suffering through every Sunday midnights crouching over my homework assignments.

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five: Not A Stain<strong>

_[Michelangelo]_

I couldn't remember when did I start to feel tired and slightly annoyed at the whole baby brother thing. All I knew was it wasn't like this when we were little, when my big brothers didn't hide things from me.

And they used to be very close to each other. I remembered there was even a time Raph followed Leo everywhere. They basically did everything together; sometimes I was even a little bit jealous of them, because I didn't get their jokes or they didn't let me participate in their games. Yeah, there was such a time Raph practically worshipped Leo.

Well, I look up to all three of them. I like Leo's reserved presence and gentleness; he doesn't show his affection for us often; he'd never say anything considerate, but you could tell he has thought everything through and is always ready to support us. And Donnie's full of ideas and untiring enthusiasm; he'd spend hours explaining to me all kinds of stuff, and he used to build me toys that he invented himself. Donnie is also the most caring of all my brothers; he notices details Leo and Raph aren't able to tell. Finally there is Raph, who'd kill whoever tries to lay a finger on me without a second of hesitation; he isn't gentle or responsible at all—and he seldom shows tenderness of any kind; there're only smacking, teasing, and scolding. I guess I'm his exception—sometimes he'd look at me with this gaze and he needn't say anything; we trust each other so much we don't even need to express it with words or actions.

I knew my brothers still cared about me a great deal. But anyway, it was _different_ now. Their lives became more complicated. Everybody was busy with his own business; even dad was often not at home. Leo had to prepare for college, and he had spent more and more time on his training. Donnie was, like I said before, studying, researching, working on projects and attending seminars all the time and, as much as he enjoyed it, he was very tired. Raph roamed free in the streets and had his own world, which he never shared with us—not even me.

If there were one person who hadn't change at all, it'd be me. I was still the youngest, _the one without a different life_. I belonged to home, to my brothers, but…sometimes it felt like they didn't seem to belong to here anymore.

O-O-O

So that night I went back to my bedroom and lay down on my bed, pulling the blanket over my head. Of course I couldn't sleep. But what else should I do? They treated me like a three-year-old. _I shouldn't be blaming myself, I shouldn't be hanging around, and I shouldn't help Raph patching up his wounds, blah blah blah._ When Leo was at my age, he did everything. He took us to the dentist; if one of us were sick he'd stay home and take care of him; he took charge of morning training when dad was busy. I knew he's the eldest one and I was supposed to be the baby because everybody wanted me to. _Get my point now?_ _I really hate this sometimes._

I don't remember how long had I been lying there sulking. I guess maybe half and hour or so. And then I heard footsteps approaching the room and voices talking in a low tone.

"…You can sleep in my bed. I'm fine with Leo anyway."

"Thanks, Donnie."

"Mikey's asleep so don't wake him up."

"Yeah…"

"…Raph?"

"What?"

"…Maybe you should try talking to Leo. …Of course not now, but maybe tomorrow?"

"Ya think he's goin' to tell Splinter 'bout this?"

"I don't know. Maybe not. But dad's coming home on Sunday, better sort this out before he comes back."

"I get whatcha sayin'. But I ain't talkin' ta that jerk unless he shows some respect."

"Raph—"

"I'm tired, Donnie. Not now. But, yeah…thanks anyway."

"Good night Raph."

"Night. Donnie."

I heard Raph heaving a sigh and lying down on Donnie's bed.

I opened my eyes and pushed my blankets aside. The room was dark; I got out of my bed and found the edge of Donnie's bed, which was right next to mine.

Raph grumbled something low when I sat down beside him.

"Mikey, I'm sore all over. Get outta my bed."

"This is Donnie's bed. And 'm sure Donnie won't mind."

"Just _go away._"

"No."

"_What's wrong with you?_" I guessed maybe he's too tired to be angry, because he wasn't as frightening as usual.

"You all treat me like an idiot or a _baby_ or somethin'." I said angrily, "and I know your secret Raph. I heard you talking to Miss Morris."

"_You were eavesdropping?_" He hissed and turned to glare at me.

"You left the door open and you're shouting at her so how am I suppose not to hear?" I lifted my voice and stared back in semidarkness.

Raph sat up, turning his bruised face away from me again.

"What happened, Raph?" I asked, "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell **_me_**?"

I stared at his back; he remained silent for a moment.

"_Alright. _I'll tell you somethin'. Yeah why not." He finally said.

"Tell me."

"It started with _our coach_," he said with disgust. "He's one of the Purple Dragon. And he's been brainwashin' these student's to join them. Some of 'em are already in, so those stupid Dragons basically ganged up with the coach and pushed evr'ybody around...

"There's this guy on the team named Tim, who didn't like the idea and was scared; he's seen 'em doin' some bad stuff. He tried to tell his folks and some teachers, but those cowards threatened him, beat him up so badly that he wouldn't dare ta give 'em away."

"_You tried to help him._" I guessed in a small voice.

"Yeah. But it didn't end up well." He smirked; I could hear the bitter edge in his low chuckle. "So me and Casey go out at night, when we see 'em Dragons, we bust their heads. But they were cunning bastards. They set a trap then ambushed us tonight."

"Raph?"

"…Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I demanded.

"_Stop_ askin' Mikey." He said impatiently.

"I'm just—"

"_Why da you have to keep askin'?_" He turned to spit with fury. "Why don'tcha go to sleep an' quit askin' me fuckin' questions? Geez I'm fucked up already. Ya think I like havin' these troubles? …"

I flinched, feeling a lump forming in my throat.

"…Ya think I like it so much fightin' with Fearless right? Ya think I wanna be like this? Ev'rybody keep askin' me _'why d'ya do that?_' _'why can't ya just be like that?'_ _'why don't ya tell us anythin_' 'Cause when I wanna say somethin' nobody wanna hear it anymore. 'Cause I'm just angry right? I'm not reasonable. I'm not smart. Heck I'm not even _lovable_. I'm nothin' like you three. I'm like a dirty _stain_ or somethin'. Nothin' I say worth listenin' 'cause I'm just so…"

**_"—It's not like that!"_** I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him with my greatest force, he almost fell off the bed. "And it _has nothin' to do with that_! _I'm just **worried**!_" I was holding back the urge to slap him in the face, because he was totally delusional to think something like that—something so obviously stupid. Even _I knew_ it was _stupid_.

"You're _NOT_ a _dirty stain_." I glared at him. "_How_ can you say that?"

His eyes widened as if he was rendered completely speechless.

"You were just trying to do the _right thing_!" I said, infuriated.

He shook his head.

"I always do them wrongly." He muttered.

"Well it doesn't matter!" I pushed him again, almost shouting. "You're my brother an' you tell me ev'rythin'! I'm not gonna judge you! Have I _EVER?_"

I glowered at him with so hard that I thought I could penetrate his head with just my eyes. Sometimes my eyes are like deadly weapons. "**_HUH?_**"

"Alright. You're right…Mikey." He mumbled. "Sorry. Okay?"

"Apology accepted." My angry glare lingered on his face a little longer as the room fell back into silence.

I let out a long breath and lay back down.

"Now I'm tired." I whispered.

Raph yawned, staring down at me. I was a little afraid he might get cross or something, but he seemed cool. Actually he looked amused.

"Maybe yer right." He relaxed his furrowed brow, twisting his lips into a small smile. "Maybe I'm not a stain."

"You're _not_ a _stain_, Raph." I said tiredly. "You're my bro."

"'M a lousy brother."

"Yeah, you totally are." I agreed.

He smiled again.

"Yer in the wrong bed, Mikey."

"Com'on. Donnie never mind me sleepin' in his bed."

"It's too crowded. He's a skinny stretch. I'm a…"

"Shortie?"

He smacked my head. "I was gonna say…"

_"Don't say you have too much muscle there's no space for me."_

He couldn't help but chuckled. "Hell no. I wasn't goin' to say that."

"I'm not goin' anywhere. I'm so tired."

He sighed. "Mikey."

I knew what he was going to say this time.

"You are not a kid now," he mumbled. But he knew me; I had always been a lousy sleeper after a tired night. According to Donnie, sometimes I even sleepwalked. I remember when I was younger I used to make Raph sing for me when I was scared of dark.

"I know." I crawled under the Donnie's blanket.

"Alright." Raph sighed, giving up and lay down next to me. "Man. You're scary when you're angry."

"Now you know how I feel." I muttered. "_Oh_!" Raph smacked me _again_ on my head. He was able to perform that in an incredibly high speed even when he was wounded and stressed out and lying flat on his back. "Now what's that for?"

"For you being a big bonehead." He said, patting my head fondly. "I'm sorry. Mikey. You're right. But don't ya worry anymore."

"Yeah? Can I trust you?"

He threw one arm over me and nearly knocked the air out of me with its weight and his grip on my neck.

"Don't worry, Mikey." He muttered again.

"Raph."

"Mmm?"

"Quit smokin' an' drinkin' man. You smell."

* * *

><p>It was about noon when I ran into Miss Morris in the hallway the next day.<p>

"Hi, Michelangelo," she stopped to smile to me.

"Good day, Miss Morris." I returned her a nervous smile.

"Do you have a minute?" She frowned and pointed the door of her office. I turned and noticed that we were standing right next to it. Boy. _Gotta avoid this route in the future._

"I want to ask you something," she looked at me with this expression suggesting something was wrong. _Of course. I bet Raph was in her class the last hour._

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged, following her into the office.

I had never come into her office before. It was neat. Some other teachers had all these books and messy exam sheets everywhere, but her desk was clean and without those little cute decorations some ladies like that kinda crept me out. She got a photo pinned on it, though—a picture showing three young girls all smiling shyly, with her being one of them.

"Your sisters, Miss Morris?" I pointed at the photo.

"Yeah. How do you know? We don't look much alike." She smiled.

"Dunno. Just got the feelin'."

"We were _adopted_. So we aren't biological sisters. But it doesn't matter. You get what I mean?"

"Of course." I grinned.

"Yeah." She sighed. "Talking about sisters. Your _brother_. What's wrong with him?"

"You mean Raph? He totally looked like a punching bag, isn't he?"_ Raph scared the lady. I knew._

"Yeah. I wanted to ask him what's wrong. But he…fled." She frowned. "He sneaked out even before the bell rang. When I noticed it was too late."

"He must've known you're going to corner him." I smiled.

"So…what happened?"

I shrugged. "A street fight. Nasty stuff. He always gets into trouble like this."

"But why did he come to a class suddenly?"

"Leo made him. They threatened him that if he don't go to school, they're gonna call dad and tell dad he was taken to the police—"

"**_He's taken to the police?_**" _Oh, now it's my fault scaring her like this._

"He wasn't arrested! He's just…questioned about some stuff. Yeah."

Miss Morris shook her head.

"I'm worried about your brother, Michelangelo." She said.

"Mikey." I corrected with a smile.

"_Mikey_ then." She said gently.

"Yeah," I said, "I'm worried, too." _I bet she likes him. Wanna bet? Nice high school teacher's falling for the wild boy. Just jokin' man. If this turns out to be real, I'm so gonna freak out._

"You see. I've had some student like this, Mikey." She said thoughtfully. "Most of them were nice kids. But some of them, even the nice ones I knew, ended up not so well."

"You mean they ended up in jail or somethin'?" I stared at her face. It was hard to believe she had taught for years; she looked so young. She must know many things that had happened around here, this neighborhood.

"Not exactly," she looked at me in my eyes. We were about the same height. "They were just…I don't know. I guess they think differently."

"_Differently._" I repeated, puzzled. _Different from what?_

"I've been teaching for almost ten years now." She shrugged. _Ten years. Really?_ "Sometimes I still wonder what am I doing, or what is the whole point of teaching. I don't think we teachers exist merely for knowledge, or even, sending packs of student into this system, this society. You know the world isn't a nice and friendly place, Mikey. It has its rules. And sometimes the rules are cruel. It feels sad to teach adolescent these rules when you already knew the world would be cruel to them." She looked at the photo on her desk.

"I think I get what you're tryin' to say." I gave a little thought and said. "You mean they don't think according to the rules?"

She nodded.

"When you're trying to tell them not to do this or that because it's wrong…seriously, I sometimes feel like I'm lying," she smiled sadly. "But I still tell them what I have to say. However, normally they wouldn't listen. And I don't blame them for not listening to me. Not at all."

"But Raph still shouldn't do it. Runnin' away like this an' get himself into trouble." I said.

"Yeah. He has a home, and brothers. I knew he cares for you a lot. All three of you. He's just maybe a little…lost. I don't know. He's pretty upset about the football team incident."

"What happened exactly?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. He just said there are gangsters on the team and they threatened a boy because he witnessed them doing something illegal."

_So he didn't tell her much, actually._

"Thank you, Mikey, for your time." She said suddenly, glancing at her watch.

"It's nothin'. Our big brother was so upset he nearly had a stroke last night." I shrugged. "Everyone would've freak out seein' him like that."

"You're very understanding, Mikey."

"Yeah? No." I kind of panicked. Sometimes when people praise me I get smug, but sometimes I just feel suddenly shy.

"Raphael once said you're very smart for your age."

"_Really?_ That's sarcasm." _Raph would never say anything like that._

"I don't think so. I think he's serious." Miss Morris nodded with the gentle smile of hers.

O-O-O

I came out of the office. I was so hungry that I could swallow three cows. But then I caught something in the corner of my eye and the feeling of hungriness disappeared right away.

I stood beside the window and looked down from it. I swore I saw Raph coming out of the main building. _He's leaving_, to where?

I ran down the stairs. It was a very dangerous thing to do for anyone else but me. I could jump down five steps at once. I highly suggest you not to try it unless you've been trained as ninja for at least over ten years. Well our father wasn't really training us to be ninjas—but we could totally be modern version of ninjas if we want.

"_HEY RAPH!_" I yelled behind him. He didn't see me coming. "_WHERE YA GOIN'?_"

He was startled by my scream, turning around and frowning. "_Mikey?_"

"Where are ya goin'?" I caught up with him.

"Nowhere." He said.

"Liar. You're going _somewhere_."

"Just wanna visit Casey in the hospital." He shrugged.

"You sure? You ain't goin' anywhere after that?"

"What? Stop interrogatin' me." He looked irritated. "Go back in there Mikey. Leo will kill you if you don't."

"He'll kill you too."

"I don't care."

"You'll come home tonight, right?"

He shrugged. All right. Again. This time _right under my nose_.

An idea suddenly came across my mind.

"Then I'm coming with you." I took a step forward, staring into his narrowed, displeased eyes.

"Why?"

"In case you run away, again."

"I'm not runnin' away."

"You are."

"'Am not." He snarled.

"I'm goin' with you and keep an eye on you."

"Go back to school, Mikey. You shouldn't do this."

"Why shouldn't I? Why should you? By the way, I'm not scared of Leo."

He was speechless. There's no way arguing with me. I beat him every time. I'm simply so annoying nobody could stand me. Ha. _It's a weapon. I tell you._

"_Fine._" He spat, turning away.

I followed him.

"Man! Leo's gonna have a heart attack if he don't see us after school." I laughed. Isn't it simply the greatest thing to walk around and be free when everyone else is locked up in school? "Poor Leo! Hey, maybe we can stop by Donnie's lab? Just see what's he doin'! Maybe he got those laser beam thingy an' we can play—"

"Donnie's at home, remember? Shut up for a second will ya?" Raph growled. "Or I'll send you right back ta school—wait, I'll call Leo an' he'll come out and grab you."

"Okay, I'll shut up. 'Cause I'm so **_smart_** I know just the right thing ta do." I grinned happily.

Raph didn't get me. But it's okay.

—End of chapter five.


	6. Best Friends and Bloody Fists

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-Warnings:<strong>

Still, a lot of words that shouldn't be pronounced in front of children.

And a furious Raph. But that's a common Raph.

**-A/N:**

Thank you so much for your reviews-_ducky mikey, Guest, InsaneDutchGirl, tmntlover2013, Athese, MissCookiiie and cup-mikey-gertha_! And thank you those who have followed & favorited my story!

And to cup-mikey-gertha: You always seem to notice details! Raph shared room with Leo for various reasons...they were very close when they were younger, and when they were older, Yoshi needed someone to watch over Raph in case he stayed up too late or something while Mikey needed to be watched over too. Obviously Donnie weren't as persuasive as Leo to Raph. Raph still held some respect for Leo, in my opinion.

And to InsaneDutchGirl, thank you for complimenting me as _F***G GREAT_! You can't imagine how happy I felt and how I laughed reading that! XD

I don't know if it's good for me to be addicted to writing&reading TMNT human AUs. They are turtles in the first place and now we turn them into humans...seems silly, but man it's so interesting.

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: Best Friends and Bloody Fists<strong>

[Michelangelo]

Let's talk about my brother Raphie before I introduce you Casey Jones.

Raphael Hamato was not your regular high school sports star. He played awesomely, but he also had this unstoppable hot temper that could jeopardize an important game. He had been sidelined for countless times because he couldn't stop himself from plunging into a fight and hurting someone from the opposite team. He was also a wicked fighter. Despite all the ancient Japanese fighting techniques we've learned since child, he was more of a street fighter than a martial artist. He knew the cruelty and harshness in real combat more than anyone of us. We're…more theoretical fighters—_according to our theorist Donnie_.

That was about sports. In classroom he was like a ghost. He seldom made it to class, but you would surely find him on the rooftop or in a park or the streets nearby. I knew there were some girls (_probably mentally disturbed, as stated by Donnie_) that were crazy about him because he looked kinda tough and dangerous—but I'm sure a lot more girls liked Leo better. _Man, was Leo a big hit_—tall and pale and leader of kendo team and top in his class no less? But to tell the truth, Raph was easier to get along with most of the time. Leo was kinda too thoughtful.

Yeah. So _back to the topic._ Casey Jones, my hotheaded brother's _BFF (Best Friends Forever, don't get me wrong, not Beef and French Fries)_. Now picture Raph. Stretch him a bit so he's like three inches taller. Replace short red hair with long dark hair and green eyes with deep brown ones. Now a broader face and a square jaw. Lighter skin tone. Add some freckles. Knock out some teeth. Reduce some muscles, but not too much—Casey looked leaner but still pretty bulky. And keep the ragged sweatshirt, tattered jeans, and that old, _old_ belt that looks like it could come apart in any second. Be sure to keep the fierce eyebrows and _add lots of savageness. _Basically you have a rough outline of Casey Jones now._ (To be honest, sometimes I felt like comparing to Casey, Raph was a lot more civilized. But the temper part, hmmm.)_

According to Raph, they met each other on the hallway while saving this skinny boy from the hands of some sophomore bullies on their second day in high school. Casey went too far as he almost broke one of the bullies' arm, but Raph stopped him in time. Casey wasn't too happy about this so he and Raph had this _epic_ fight in the hallway that sent them straight into the principal's office afterwards—it sorta became a legend in our school but sadly I wasn't in high school yet to witness it. The bullies gathered some other guys and challenged them again a few days later. This time, with the aid of Leo _(who mysteriously disappeared before any teachers arrived the crime scene. No trace of evidence that would defile the flawless student was found.)_, Raph and Casey won gloriously and after that incident, they became suddenly best-friends-forever and all.

* * *

><p>The Casey I had known was tough and almost barbaric, but the Casey, who now lay on the white hospital bed, looked miserable. He was a <em>wreck<em>; his head, and arms were wrapped up in bandages, and his face was painful to look at—a lot worse than Raph's.

"Hey." Raph walked toward the bed and, after hesitating for a moment, put a hand on the guy's bound-up shoulder. "How ya doin'?"

"Awesome." Casey moaned. He could barely open his left eye. The purple bruises around his eye must make it painful to even blink. "How 'bout you?"

Raph shrugged. "I'm still standin' on my feet."

"Great." Casey mumbled.

"Has your dad showed up yet?"

"Yeah. He just left, actually. He works on the night shift today." Casey replied with effort. "Man. Y'know what? I lost another tooth…" Suddenly he saw me in the corner of his eyes.

Raph followed his gaze. "Yeah. This is Michelangelo, my little brother."

I displayed a friendly beam.

Casey nodded. "So you're the famous Michelangelo."

"Famous?"

"Yeah. Tell me your brother's being too overprotective it's annoying. _'Hey Raph, care for some pizzas?' 'No, gotta walk home with Mikey.' 'Man, it's only five o'clock.' 'No. It's dangerous, he shouldn't be out alone after dark.'_ Am I right?"

"Yeah." I couldn't help but smile in amusement.

Raph crossed his arms. "I'm nothin' like that."

"You are," I smiled.

Raph flushed and said. "Quit kiddin' around, Casey. I came ta tell you somethin'. Mikey," he turned to me, "How about ya wait outside? Go buy yerself a coke or somethin'." He took some coins from his pocket and handed them to me.

"All right." I sighed, heading toward the door. "I'll see ya later."

_Okay. This time it's real eavesdropping. On purpose. Time to switch to __**Special Agent Mikey mode**__._

"What is it, Raph?" After closing the door behind me, I instantly pressed one ear onto the door. Their voice came out muffled, but I could still hear it.

"It's about those fucking Dragons."

A moment of silence.

"If it's about me gettin' beat'n up, ya don't havta feel sorry pal."

"I ain't." Raph chuckled.

"Really. _Thanks for your concern._" Casey remarked sarcastically.

"_You're welcome_…seriously, Casey. I'm tryin' ta be serious here an' why don't you play along."

"Alright. Alright." Casey said after a pause. "So, what about it?"

"_We can't just let them rub it in._"

"What, ya wanna _rematch_? Against those blood-thirsty creeps?"

"Yeah. We can't just…"

"_—__Raph._"

"—_We can't_ just let them do this ta us and let them think they own da fuckin' streets! They humiliated us like we're some cheap stupid fuck…come on Casey, _they_ were cowards, they know nothin' else besides drugs an' robbery an' low-class bully crap…**_their life is shit an' they're tryin' ta ruin everybody else's…_**"

"_Hey_, calm down. Raph. Yer gonna draw all the nurses here…. _Don't get me wrong man. I like their attention._"

"Fuck off Casey. I'm talkin' about—"

"Just a sec. Will ya sit down? ...Yeah, just calm down willya?"

"What the _hell_ Casey?"

"Alright. _Sit still._ Just listen ta me okay? Ya see I've been lyin' here since last night an' my fuckin' broken ribs hurt like hell. I was thinkin' 'bout us, Raph. I mean. Can't you see. We're pretty much screwed."

"What da you mean." Raph mumbled.

"Look at us. We're pretty much _like 'em._"

"Like who? Ya mean the _Purple Dragon_?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck you Casey…yer retarded or what? They are_ fuckin' criminals_—"

"Yeah we don't sell kids drugs, or take money from skinny dudes. But we beat the hell outta people just for fun…com'on, don't say ya don't. We steal money from our folks. We'll soon be kicked outta school because we're never there. Com'on Raph. _I'm right._"

"Wow yer suddenly _wise_ or somethin'?" Raph snapped with cold laugher. "Yer a _FUCKIN' PHILOSOPHER?_ _Casey Jones?_ _Huh?_"

"_Calm down_ pal. I was just tryin' ta tell you, I'm not so sure 'bout this thing we're doin' anymore."

"Are you scared or what? Yer tellin' me ya wanna chicken out? Now?"

"No. I was just sayin' y'oughtta think 'bout this, Raph. What are we doin' this for? An' look at _what we've got us into_?"

"I see nuthin'. I think I can keep doin' it."

"—_'__Cause you totally don't __**care**__?_ I don't believe it. Ya don't wanna get a job after ya _graduate_? Ya don't wanna be_ somethin' else_ besides a street punk?"

"I ain't a street punk."

"Ya _sleep in a park an' on a rooftop_. Yer practically a _hobo_."

"I got a home."

"Then _why don't ya go home_?"

"_WHY SHOULD I?_"

Man, I knew Raph was getting angry. _This is gonna be bad. Really bad._

"I don't know. 'Cause I kinda wanna go home instead of stuck in this this fuckin' hospital. It smells like shit. Ya know I can't play hockey for months now because of this. Man. Why did we do it in the first place huh?"

"_WE HAVE TO STOP THOSE GOONS, CASEY. NOBODY ELSE CAN STOP 'EM._"

"Nope. Yer wrong. We can't stop 'em, too. Leave this to somebody else. Cops, maybe."

"We haven't try hard enough—"

"Yes. We've tried so hard now I end up like this. Can't even get outta bed with a fucking cane… And I tell ya I've had enough."

"Ya _what?_"

"…Have had enough. I wanna be a professional player someday, not some dirtbag that always run in the first sight of cops, Raph. Maybe ya wanna carry on like this and maybe I can come visit you in jail sometime in tha future. Maybe."

"Casey Jones." Raph said in a cold, suppressed voice.

"Yeah."

"Casey Jones yer a fuckin' liar."

"Call me anythin'. I just wanna tell you that we shouldn't be like this."

"Fuckin' hypocrite. _Ya said we were supposed to do somethin' other people couldn't do. Ya said we had ta take the streets back from those goons an' restore the order. It's all crap. Ya wanna go home an' be daddy's good boy go ahead._"

"Ya got a dad _too_. Maybe you should go home."

"He's _not_ my dad. He just fuckin' _adopted_ us."

I felt my stomach lurch at his words.

"Whatever. Ya got brothers. Ya don't wanna be arrested. _An' ya know what, ya almost got yerself arrested last night_. Worse, you can get yerself killed. They haven't taken out their _toys_ yet. Remember we saw 'em shoot that guy the other night."

"The guy isn't dead."

"He _almost died_."

"**_WHATEVER._**" Raph grunted.

Suddenly the door was flung open—I stumbled back a few steps—and Raph was looking down at me.

"_Should've known yer fucking eavesdroppin' again._" He muttered and knocked me aside with his shoulder. I almost fell to the floor. _Man it hurt_. But he didn't even look at me as he walked down the hallway towards the elevator.

I quickly followed him. What else could I do.

O-O-O

We walked a few blocks in silence. Raph was walking fast and I dared not try talking to him. And when we were far from the traffic, he turned into a quiet alley. I slowly went behind him.

"_Fucking Casey Jones. Fucking coward._" Raph grumbled and kicked a trashcan hard. The noise echoed in the empty alley. I glanced at him from a few feet away.

He started to punch the wall of the building we were standing by. He kicked it hard and cursed under his breath. I could see the vein on his neck bulging and his ears turning as red as his hair.

"Raph." I whispered. Of course he couldn't hear me. He couldn't hear anything now.

He was still throwing his fists at the wall like it's a punching bag, but it wasn't. It was a wall made out of _bricks_. And his fists were bleeding.

"_RAPH!_" I yelled. "_RAPH, STOP IT!_"

He wouldn't listen.

I took a couple of steps toward him and tried to put a hand on his tensed shoulder. He turned around to face me as my fingers froze in midair and he grabbed the front of my shirt.

"Raph, please." I said and looked into his blazing eyes. "Stop it."

His other hand was still clenching tight and ready to hit. He was ready to hit me, I knew. He was gonna hit me.

"Raph?" I said his name again. "_Ya hear me bro?_"

"_Raph!_" I called again; this time my voice was quavering like I was afraid. But I wasn't afraid.

He blinked a few times, and suddenly something penetrated the burning rage in the bright green eyes. His expression changed. The overly bright green was subdued and his face collapsed into a silent hollow.

He let go of my shirt, and stepped back, falling onto the ground heavily.

I stood there for a moment, staring down at him.

His body was trembling. He could barely hold it together. I could see him falling into little pieces, and it's just horrible to watch.

"Raph, you're okay?" I asked, kneeling down before him.

He shook his head slowly.

"You're goin' to be fine." I said.

"…_I almost hit you,_" he just said, looking away.

"But you didn't."

"_I was goin' to_." He glanced up at me. "I fucking _scared_ you."

"You didn't…"

"_Yes, yes I did,_" he said lowly, reaching out a hand and wiping away a tear on my cheek that I hadn't noticed it was there.

Before he could draw back, I grabbed his hand and held it in front of my face to examine his knuckles—they were red and swollen and bleeding.

"Don't," he said when I was about to clean the blood with my clothes. "Let it be."

"No." I carefully rubbed the blood off his hand. And then the other hand. It was really bad. I'd never seen someone hurt this bad by punching a random wall. I had smacked a wall once when I got really angry, but I had given up after the first punch—it hurt like hell.

He let his hands drop by his sides, never looking at me again.

"Com'on Raph." I took hold of his shoulders and pulled him close to me. His chin pressed against my collarbone. "Let's go home."

—End of chapter six.

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:** Sorry guys that wasn't a lot of plot. But I think this is important too, sort of a turning point, _bad turning point_. This thing came late at night and I didn't think much before typing them down. In the next chapter there will be more development.


	7. Strong Feelings Never Bother You

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-Warnings:<strong>

There're not much curse words in this chapter. Thank God! But there's a disturbing poster :P

**-A/N:**

Thank you all the people who have reviewed! _HopeandStruggle, Athese, InsaneDutchGirl, cup-mikey-gertha, ducky mikey, MissCookiiie, tmntlover2013, Raigon, Guest and LovelyLittleStrawberry_, thank you! I read your reviews for many times because they really give me big boost! Totally!

Haha, and **to cup-mikey-gertha**: Donnie? He's a genius and he's only sixteen, I bet every girl in his department are desperate to know & approach him. But they are too old for him maybe? If I were Donnie I wouldn't mind though LOL.

I was considering about writing a love story about Donnie in this human AU. A sequel to this story maybe. You guys mind slash? 'Cause I'm thinking about Leatherhead X Donnie (in 2k3 universe they were very close) _onesided_ and Donnie X April _onesided_. Kinda messed up isn't it. Haha! But that's only an idea. How do you think? Maybe I won't write about it. Depends.

Feel free to ask me trivia in this human AU! They might trigger my inspiration. And I sometimes I just don't have chance to explain something but that doesn't mean I haven't given them a thought. So yeah! Feel free to ask.

I've been struggling with this chapter. I'm not satisfied with it I can tell you that. But...I've tried my best and I didn't want to keep you waiting since it was done like three days ago:P

So here you go!

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!). And that title chapter if you really mind me quoting lyrics from another songs...

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Strong Feelings Never Bother You*<strong>

_[Michelangelo]_

Raph had his fits all the time. I remembered this little incident from the past. I was about six years old or so and Raph was eight. An evening Raph came home all covered in mud. Later we discovered that earlier that day he had had a fight with this kid living next door because the boy had insulted our family (We were often other kids' targets back then, because obviously Master Yoshi wasn't our biological father and the four of us (except Raph and Donnie) looked utterly unlike. Some parents simply told their kids to stay away from us.). However Raph didn't say anything about it. He just came home and went straight into his room and started to pummel the wall. We tried to bait him out with food or comic books or anything, but he just wouldn't stop. None of us could do the job except dad. Dad went into the room and just sat down next to him, talking quietly to him and coaxing him out of his mood. Finally he was willing to come out of the room and let dad wash away all those mud and all those strong emotions. I still remember quite clearly the way dad had talked to him, whispering in Japanese softly like it was a spell or something. And Raph's eyes were finally softened and went back to normal. I think it was not until this incident that had dad realized that maybe Raph really had an overly drastic temperament.

I don't really know whether there was anything wrong with Raph. I never really think there was anything wrong. Leo and Donnie said he had anger issues. But I had always thought it was maybe just _strong feelings_. He just got all these strong feelings that were overwhelming; sometimes they took control over him and his mind was clouded. Some people have it, some people just don't. _Strong feelings. That's what I think._

-O-

We walked all the way home-which was a very long distance. Raph hardly spoke during the way. I found him glimpsing at me sometimes; I knew he was still feeling guilty about almost hurting me.

When we were finally standing in front of our apartment door and I was reaching for keys, Raph put a hand on my arm and stopped me.

"Mikey," he said hesitantly.

I turned to him, studying his face. He looked strange to me. I'd never seen him looking like this before. He just looked so worn-out and empty; his eyes were somber and withdrawn.

"Hmm?" I slightly raised one eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Mikey," he muttered. "I know you hate this."

"But you know I hate it more when you're unhappy," I said, giving him a small smile. "Cheer up bro."

He returned me a lopsided twist of lips. "How can I be happy after all this shit? Casey fucking Jones betrayed me."

"Ya have to try," I said solemnly, and put on my badass movie face _plus_ voice. "_Ya got a problem ya come to me. Michelangelo 'Silver Shade' Hamato, the most effective assassin in the dark side of New York City, is always at yer service. Ya call me, ya give me a name, and the man's gone. Gone. Y'll never find a trace of the ma—_"

He smacked my head with a grin, still looking tired but I could tell his eyes were smiling now.

"_Later we can discuss the price._" I whispered to his ear. He pushed my face away.

"Yeah _Silver Shade_. What a lame name."

After I opened the door and Raph went inside, I stood there for a moment, watching him.

I knew I shouldn't be feeling like this, but I kind of thought…somehow, _maybe_, Casey was right.

-O-

"Where have you guys been?" Donnie gaped at us, standing up from his favorite chair and putting down the book in his hand. "I-is that blood on your clothes Mikey?"

"It's Raph's." I closed the front door behind me.

"Raph," Donnie frowned. "_I'm not gonna_—"

"Just give me the icepack." Raph said expressionlessly. "It's nothin'."

Donnie turned to me. "Don't tell me he hurt his knuckles again."

"He did." I smiled weakly.

While Raph went into the kitchen to fetch the icepack, Donnie collapsed on the couch and emitted a sigh.

"Leo just called," he said. "He was…"

"Cranky?" I guessed, but…that wasn't hard to guess.

"_He's worried sick._ You better call him back yourself Mikey. And, leave me out of this."

"Don't worry Brainiac." Raph came out of the kitchen with the icepack, and plumped himself down beside Donnie. "I'll deal with him myself."

"You don't have to _deal with him._" Donnie muttered. "You just have to tell him what's this all about—"

I heard some noise behind me and turned to discover the front door opened wide. And there _he_ was, standing in the doorway and frowning slightly at us.

"_Hi, Leo._" I smiled nervously.

Leo was wearing his typical stern expression. I thought he was going to burst right away, but he didn't. He silently went past me and set his book bag down by the TV.

_Uh-oh, we're toast._

I glanced at Raph; he saw me and flickered one brow.

"Alright." He stood up, "I need to get some sleep before dinner."

To my surprise, Leo still didn't say anything. So Raph went straight into the bedroom without looking back. I could feel the weight of the strange atmosphere around my shoulder. _Boy, this is getting weird._

-O-

"If you're concerned about him, why don't you just say something?" Donnie asked, leaning against the overloaded bookshelf behind his messy (and _massy_) desk.

"I don't know. He oughtta figure it out himself," Leo said darkly, taking off his jacket and tossing it on the couch.

"Why do you think he knows what the problem is?" Donnie looked at him.

"He should know," Leo said.

I stood right next to Donnie, but the two of them didn't seem to notice my presence. I looked at Leo's stony face, and then looked at Donnie's knitted brows.

"_You think nagging him's gonna help?_" I said out loud all of a sudden.

They both turned to stare at me as if they suddenly found out that I was there.

"You don't know what it is like," I said quietly and rather abruptly.

"What is _what_ like?" Leo frowned.

"What are you trying to say, Mikey?" Donnie asked.

"_To be like Raph,_" I said. "'Cause I have no idea."

I left the living room.

-O-

I went into Raph and Leo's bedroom. Raph wasn't just saying some random excuse to escape from Leo; he was really tired from what happened last night. I found him in his bed, burying his head under a pillow.

But he hadn't fall asleep. He heard me coming in and muttered, "Leave me alone, Lame-O."

"It's me." I said.

"Oh." He shoved that pillow away, lifting his head slightly to see me. "What d'ya want, Mikey?"

"Nothin'. I just wanna stay away from the living room." I shrugged, sitting down on the chair beside his small desk—it had been there since we first moved into this apartment; and that had been over ten years ago—around the time when dad suffered a severe breakdown, losing his previous job and his wife, our mother (of whom none of us could, sadly, recall a memory).

"Oh," he dropped his head back to the bed.

I looked around the room. It was a weird fusion of two extremes—Leo's simple, natural taste and Raph's chaotic style. There was constantly a pile of dirty clothes under the foot of Raph's bed, but every time when Leo went across the room, he would pick it up and place it in the laundry basket in our bathroom. Raph had some pictures pinned above his nightstand (which was very messy with piles of CDs occupying all the visible surface)—Leo wouldn't allow him to get some full-sized poster; he said the expression of the people in those posters bothered him a great deal and I don't blame him; they're really disturbing—long hair dudes with cigarettes, looking like they hadn't shaved in two weeks and like they just saw something died. So Raph only printed out some small pictures from the Internet and pinned them where only he could see. However, he did have one huge poster behind the bedroom door—a half-naked woman twisting her body into an unspeakable position (_thank god dad didn't have any chance to see it_—it was well-hidden); Raph said he used it to practice his _shuriken_ skill and I doubted Leo believed it. But once Raph said Leo used that to practice his _shuriken_ too and man, he and Leo's expressions were so weird then that I dared not bring up the topic again. If you wanna ask my opinion, I'd say that model's too hot it sometimes got on my nerves. _Geez._ But I checked it once and _there really were shurikens pinned on it_. _Isn't that just weird?_

Leo, on the other hand, barely had anything personal in his space, except exact three _Captain Ryan_ action figures and his collection of all _Space Heroes_ comic books on his bookshelf, which was crowded with some poetry books and classic novels (_He was one of the rare kind of teenagers that treasured writers like Maugham, Tolstoy, or what's that guy's name? Oh, Dostoyevsky._).

You might think they would fight all day living in one room but actually it wasn't that bad. Well, its hadn't been that bad until just recently, until Raph started to not come home at nights.

Raph was shifting in his bed. He looked like he had a hard time trying to fall asleep. When was the last time he slept in his own bed? It was days ago. Now he was staring at a metal plate placed next to the closet, furrowing his brow restlessly.

The plate used to belong to Spike. Oh. Have I mentioned Raph's pet turtle? Yeah he had had a pet turtle, but it went missing about a month ago while we took it out for a stroll. It's not like we were walking it like it's a dog or something (_if that's what you're imagining right now in your head_). We took it out all the time; we went into a park and just placed it near _nature_, getting some sunbath and fresh air and all. Dad wouldn't let me keep a kitten and yet he let Raph have a turtle. So unfair.

So that day we had been to a playground in the neighborhood. By the time we should head home, we couldn't find Spike anywhere. Raph had gone mad searching for it, but it was almost as if it had vanished right there under the sunlight. This thing upset him tremendously and I totally understood—Spike was like his personal friend, even though it sounded ridiculous.

Raph used to talk to Spike a lot. I used to like to tease him about it, because he would speak to Spike in this _syrupy falsetto_ so soft and gentle you'd _faint_ hearing him talk like that (_The first time I heard it I thought it was those corny grannies from dad's soaps talking on TV and my eyeballs almost dropped out when I saw it was actually Raph talking_). Sometimes I thought it was probably because Spike couldn't stand Raph so it ran away or something. That seems a little silly, but I'm a very silly person. People remind me that all the time, thinking I don't know about it, but they're wrong. I know exactly how silly I am.

So without Spike, he was kinda feeling low and lonesome lately—that's what I thought. But like I said before, he wasn't an outcast or something in our home. I didn't know why but sometimes it felt like he was trying to _detach_ himself from us and be an outsider—dunno why he did that, though. I couldn't understand a lot of things concerning my hothead bro; I used to not care that much—_I mean, we are different, so try to understand each other…not a big deal, right?_ But now it wasn't that easy.

I looked at Raph and an idea crossed my mind.

"Hey, Raph?" _Alright. Enough. Time to buck my bros up._

"What?"

"I know something we can do," I grinned.

"What, Mikey?" He groaned. He didn't like most of my ideas.

"How 'bout we go out for a dinner? _All of us._ I'll talk to Leo and Donnie—"

"Really, Mikey? Ya really think that's a good idea?" he said with a grim frown.

"Come on! You guys are all gloomy and boring these days! Let's go out and have fun! Wednesday's family night! Remember?"

"Whatever, Mikey." Raph sighed. "But I doubt Leo would agree."

"How d'ya know."

O-O-O

"So, Mikey. Where exactly are we going?" Donnie asked.

We finally came out of the apartment building. My brothers stood in a row in front of me, and they were _all looking down at me._ _They're scary sometimes._

"Let's go to that restaurant we used to go, the place that had this horse-face chef," I mimicked the look of the horse-face and they couldn't help but all smiled, including Raph. _Oh, ain't that horse-face dude a brilliant chef!_ It was affordable for us to dine there. And it was almost always crowded with people so you could talk loud in there or even dance on the table without worrying what other people might think. _Okay I was kiddin'._ You shouldn't dance in there. I tried once but they sent waiters to stop me—that was embarrassing.

"I don't like that place." Donnie grimaced. "It's too noisy. And full of people."

"Actually I wouldn't mind," Raph shrugged. _Thank you, pal. Nah, I think he's just too hungry._

"What d'you think, Leo?" I turned Leo, who was now wearing his Captain face.

"Let's go," he said.

"Three against one. You lose Donnie!" I beamed.

"Oh, great," Donnie grumbled. "You all vote Mikey 'cause you wanna see me crack under that sweaty, steamy atmosphere."

-O-

We took seats by the table near the window. After finishing ordering our meal, I glanced at my brothers' faces nervously. They were finally together and were maybe, just _maybe_, willing to reconcile with each other. If they didn't want reconciliation, I'd force them.

"Okay, guys, before we start to eat—" I opened my mouth.

"_Mikey._" Raph and Leo hissed together.

"Come on. Give him a chance." Donnie said, smiling smugly. "I have to endure this restaurant and you, Mikey's lecture."

"Alright. Say what you want, Mikey," Raph sighed.

"Uh…so," I slowly began, "We've been through a lot lately—"

"_Raph's_ been through a lot lately, not us," Leo muttered in a low voice.

I ignored Leo. "Firstly, dad's not home. Secondly, Raphie picked some fights with street gang. And finally, my dear bros, you won't speak to each other—"

"_He won't speak_—" Raph muttered while Leo sighed, speaking at the same time. They each stopped abruptly and looked away awkwardly.

"Nice going Mikey," Donnie gave me a thumb-up.

I cleared my throat. "Okay. Problem needs to be solved. First thing first, Leo, y' wanna say somethin'?"

Leo lay back into his chair and shrugged. "Not really."

"Come on, Leo." Donnie, who was seated next to Leo, nudged him with that hateful smile of his.

"Alright." Leo sighed, brushing his bangs out of his sight. "Uh, …how's school, Mikey?"

I groaned. "Dude! That's not what I meant!"

"Yeah, how's school Mikey?" Raph joined him, staring at me from my left side.

_Hmmm, wait. Maybe this isn't as bad as I thought—Raph agrees with Leo! Yeah. Guess I have to sacrifice my dignity for this one. God. Help me._

"Um…I don't really enjoy the kendo training? …Could we not train that much Leo?" I shifted in my chair uncomfortably._ This would hurt Leo's feelings but, gosh, I just couldn't think of anything else right now._

"I'm afraid we can't, Mikey," Leo just looked at me and said, seriously and all. "You might be the only one who has a chance on our team. We've already lost Raph from the team since he…decided to ignore Father's orders."

"Ya mean _YOUR_ orders," Raph snorted.

"I know you don't really enjoy fighting with sword, but come on Raph, it's helpful to other styles of fighting too." Leo said. "At least you're a better fighter than Mikey." _Hey, I'm sitting right here._

"I'm too busy. I got the football team."

"_Didn't you already quit the football team?_" I said without thinking, glancing at Raph and seeing his eyebrows raised and wrinkled dangerously. _Oops. My big mouth._

There was a momentary silence, and then Leo jumped and almost stood up.

"_HE QUIT?_" Leo cried. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? _Geez_ Raph! It might be your only chance to a scholarship and then _YOU JUST QUIT_?"

"Wait a sec wait a sec… _WHO_ said I wanna go to a college?" Raph snapped.

"Don't you?" Leo stared at him wide-eyed. "Father wants you to go too as long as you have a scholarship; we can afford other things."

"_Who cares_ what Splinter says?" Raph stared back, "I never want to go to a college. I want to quit school as soon as I can. I suck at schools."

"Not really," Donnie mumbled from across the table, "You used to get really good grades back then. We still share some DNA ya know."

"_THANKS Genius._ But no, thanks," Raph shrugged. "I don't wanna be smart or somethin'." Donnie frowned at his last sentence, opening his mouth to say something but only to be interrupted by Leo.

"Why did you quit the team?" Leo asked again. "_Why?_"

"I-I don't know." Raph shrugged again, "I don't like it really—"

"Stop lying already," Donnie said, "You love it." _Yeah. Tackling people? Definitely Raphie's major favorite event._

"Yeah, but I hate those macho guys. They're a bunch of pussies wearing over-sized muscles it can fool everybody but not me."

"What do you mean." Leo frowned.

"Dunno. They're just kinda…too…uh…too…"

"_They're mostly members of the Purple Dragon._" I interrupted, but regretted instantly. _But you can't blame me_. Raph just wouldn't say it.

"_WHAT?_"

"They were bullying some guys and Raph found out." I couldn't stop. _Nope. Just couldn't stop no matter how hard I was mentally slapping myself._

"So you decided to play hero and fight with some _armed_ gangsters?" Leo cried.

"Yeah." I answered for Raph.

"HOW STUPID WAS THAT?"

"Uh…would you guys mind keeping it down a bit?" A waitress with a tray showed up and asked us carefully in a low tone.

"Sure, sorry." Donnie answered for us.

"Sorry." Raph gave a snort. The girl set the dishes on the table, and then quickly left as if we had some contagious disease or something.

"_Raphael._" Leo pointed a finger at Raph's face, addressing his full name. "Tell me honestly. How long have you been playing this vigilante game?"

"It's _not a game_."

"Why don't you just call the police when you see those gangsters?"

"Ya think they'd help?"

"_Of course!_ It's their job, Raph! Your job is to be a student and _stay out of troubles!_"

"Whoa, Raph stays outta troubles. Mikey and I can switch brains." Donnie muttered. _Now that's a bit insulting._

"Not helping Donnie." Leo turned to glare at Donnie.

"Just trying to lighten up the mood." Donnie shrugged.

"You too, huh, D.." I tapped the table with my fingers. _Man, my plan sucks._

"Ya think they'd arrest those guys sittin' on the street and callin' girl passersby nasty names?" Raph smirked. "You think they'll blow the jaw of those fuckin' cowards who would tell children on the streets their lives are shit so they should start liftin' peolple's wallet? You think they'll stop those punks who got nothin' ta do besides givin' people a hard time? Some of them aren't exactly criminals, but _they're scums, Leo._ They—"

"_STILL_, it's not your business to stop them. _You're a high school student, not a suicidal vigilante for chrissake!_"

"_You weren't there, Leo.__** You didn't see their faces.**__ They—_" Raph retorted.

"—They _what_? _Pushed your buttons_? You gotta keep it under control Raph!"

"_YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!_" Raph shouted.

"And you do? I doubt it Raph. **_This is not a game it's your own life and the Hamato clan's reputation that you're risking!_**" Leo growled back.

Raph bit his lips and pushed the chair back.

"_To hell with yer goddamn reputation._ I've had enough of this." He suddenly stood up. "Goodbye. By the way Mikey, _nice try to screw things up._"

He turned to leave.

"Raph!" I yelled at his back, but he ignored me and walked through tables and people into the drowning noises. And then the front door opened and shut. He was gone.

"_Not cool, Leo,_" I turned to snap at my foul-faced big brother. And before they could stand up and grab me, I was running to the door like a mad wind.

And I ran straight into the night. I could hear my brothers calling my names from behind, but soon there were no other sounds except my own footfall and the hissing traffic and all the people on the street talking with their friends or on the phone about things that weren't concerned with our lives.

And I couldn't see Raph anywhere.

—End of chapter seven.

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:** The next chapter, guys...hehehe.

**-***: FYI, the chapter title comes from the song 'Good Tradition' by Tanita Tikaram. A very good song! (Gosh by writing fanfiction, I slowly unravel my tend-to-listen-to-dated-songs nature...)


	8. The Shocked and Pained

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:**

Thank you for your reviews, guys! My thanks goes to _InsaneDutchGirl, Guest, Athese, Avatar Aang, ducky mikey, tmntlover2013, and MissCookiiie!_

Haha, this is the chapter you're waiting for. I originally wanted to post it a few days later but that'd be too evil.

Sit tight and enjoy.

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!) and the lyrics I quote.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight: The Shocked and Pained<strong>

[Raphael]

_Don't you just love those chilly autumn nights._

Raphael Hamato was wandering around. The wind flapped the black denim shirt he was wearing and it felt good. He liked to wander around—especially at night. When he was younger, he liked to take the longest route home after school—no particular reason for that; he just enjoyed walking.

There were many things he disliked—mainly three things—pretenders, criminals, and bossy bastards. He hated it when people said one thing but did otherwise; especially those people who had a point to prove and pretend like they're saints or holy figures while they're not. He hated shameless lowlife, who didn't have real strength and power in them. He hated it when people told him what to do.

_But wandering around is a totally different thing._ It's a thing he liked. Aimless. Pointless. Careless. **_Free_**_._ Basically you just give your head a break and let it unwind. Raph wasn't possessed of logical or complicated thoughts, but he sure thought a lot in his own way. He cared too much, sometimes.

He had considered a real escape—buying a flight ticket and going somewhere else, somewhere far away. Maybe go to the country, settling down in a farm and finding some physical labor to earn his living. He wouldn't mind as long as he could find some place to crash.

_Whistling wind…the stars are shootin'  
>Night is falling somewhere<em>

_Gimme a door, I feel like walkin'  
>Puttin' the wind in my hair<em>

He hummed quietly. It might sound corny to Casey, but he really liked the words and the feeling. Ha. _Feelings._ He knew about feelings. He knew _too goddamn much_ about feelings. Sometimes he envied the Fearless Leader because he always seemed to have all of his emotions under stupid Spartan control.

He thought about Mikey. He had almost hurt the kid earlier. What infuriated him the most was that_ he knew he was losing it._ He knew he was going out of control. But knowing that couldn't stop him. Oh maybe there's one more thing to add on the list—_he hated himself._

_Maybe it's a good night for Dragons, too. Casey wants to quit? Fine._

He could still avenge his friend.

He could do the job by himself.

He clenched his fists tight in his pocket; his knuckles still hurt but he didn't care.

_Don't you just love those chilly autumn nights._

* * *

><p>[Leonardo &amp; Donatello]<p>

"Dammit." Leonardo cursed and kicked an empty can, watching it roll along the sidewalk. "Where do you think he'd go?"

"Who do you mean? Mikey, or Raph?" Donatello asked in response.

The two of them were heading toward their parked car. It had been over two hours since Mikey stormed off, but there was no sign of both him and Raph. They had gone home to check once but Raph and Mikey hadn't been there. So they came out again to search; this time they drove the car.

"Mikey."

"He obviously followed Raphael."

"You think they're together?" Leo asked eagerly.

"How d'I know?" Donnie frowned. "For all we know they're maybe at home right now."

"I hope so." Leo muttered.

"Come on, Leo. Let's go to the police station and leave them some information. If someone saw him they'd let us know."

"Yeah." Leo sighed.

-O-

"This won't be dealt with as a case of missing person. You understand that? A person has to be gone for more than—"

"It's alright." Donnie sighed. "We know. He's not…missing or something. He just ran away and he hasn't done that before."

"We'll call you as soon as somebody report something," the officer said in a reassuring tone. Leo thought she looked familiar. Oh, right, she was here that night he came to pick Raph up. _What's her name? Stern._

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Could you describe your brother's appearance?" Stern took a pencil and looked up at him.

"Uh, sure. He's fourteen. Blond. Blue eyes. His hair is a bit long…not that long. He wears large orange flannel shirt and jeans. He's about as tall as my shoulder. He's small, uh, kind of skinny."

"Freckles," Donnie added.

"Yeah." Leo nodded. "That's all."

"Name's Michelangelo Hamato, right?" Stern checked her notes.

-O-

"How about Raph?" Donnie asked when they were out of the building and walking in the chilly air again.

Leo halted and turned to gaze at his brother.

"You don't think it's a big deal, right?" Donnie sighed.

"He runs away all the time," Leo said coldly.

"Com'on. You don't really think so," Donnie stared at him with sad eyes.

"He'll take care of himself." Leo looked down at the pavement, motionless.

Donnie was silent for a moment, and then he sighed again. "You're angry with him right?"

"It's because of him Mikey ran away," Leo hissed.

"Not really," Donnie said softly with downcast eyes. "Leo…I know you worried about Raph and you wanna tell him how foolish his acts are but…" he paused, rubbing his hands in the cool air. "You have no idea how Mikey and I feel every time you and Raphael fight."

Leo raised an eyebrow.

"All this yelling and shouting and _accusing_…" Donnie shook his head. "I can never get used to it. And Mikey…you know the kid.

"_We are the center of his life. We're everything that he has,_" Donnie tilted his head so he could meet Leo's eyes. "You don't understand, right?"

Leo just stared back, and when Donnie saw the hardness in his brother's look, he tried again.

"There's gotta be another way to solve the problem," he said gently.

"Maybe," Leo shrugged.

Donnie gave up and sighed, walking toward their old car.

"Let's just go home and wait up for them."

* * *

><p>[Michelangelo]<p>

I had been running behind him but after a few turns he was gone. He knew the streets better than me.

Now I was sitting on a pile of garbage in this stupid alley. It stank, really. But suddenly I just didn't care anymore. It was like nothing mattered anymore. Raph? He could go to hell. I tried to help him, but he didn't want my help. He wanted to be left alone in his stupid radical thoughts so be it. And Leo? He just wouldn't listen to other people's side of story. He always did what he thought was best, but there wasn't always only one solution. Donnie? Poor D.. He was like me. But he wouldn't say anything against them.

I let my thoughts drifted away. I wanted to think about something good. So I tried to think about some good memories we had. However, I just couldn't think of anything good right now.

Okay. Think about my comic book. _Stranger Whistles._ Hadn't had a chance to work on it since yesterday._ …Man, is this how Stranger must have felt like? Sitting on the top of trash and mulling over unpleasant thoughts? I always thought that'd be a cool thing to do. It looks cool. Looks tough. But it doesn't feel very cool and good to act like this. It just makes me feel so lonely. And God I hate being lonely. Never try to mask it. Really. When I'm lonely I almost always shout it out loud. And I got a bunch of brothers and friends so I'm not really lonely. I rarely feel alone. But now I'm so alone. Is this how Raph feels all the time? How can he manage that? If I had to sleep in a place like this I'd go crazy. I doubt Raph likes it. Why did he do this to himself huh? I don't get it. I don't get him and Leo and those gangsters really. Everything is simple, isn't it? Why does it have to be so complicated? Why don't Raph and Leo just talk to each other and sort whatever-this-is out? It isn't that hard! You just…say it. Am I being too naïve? I hate it when people say I'm too naïve. They always have a lot of thoughts. Unnecessary thoughts, in my opinion. They just have to make things so complex, and they argue and argue and argue…_

_I just want everything to go back to normal. Raph can have his attitude and Leo his role as big brother. Just don't fight and stay at home. Raph always tells me what kind of people he hates, but I don't have a problem with that. If these people bother him so much, why doesn't he just avoid them or forget about them? Raph always let negative stuff bug him. It's so meaningless. Oh. Why didn't he listen to me? Why? ..._

-O-

"He's asleep," suddenly someone was saying.

"I think I know him from somewhere," another guy with a sharp voice said.

"Really? He's a cute kid, from a nice family maybe, probably got kicked out from home by his _daddy_ or something."

"Wait," the previous guy spoke, smirking. "I remember! I saw him before, in school. He's that fuckin' Hamato redhead's brother."

"Yer serious?"

"Yeah! Think about what Hamato will be like if we have his brother. We'll add some bruises and scars on his pretty face. Hmmm. Can't wait to see."

**_What time is it? Did I fall asleep?_**

I peered from my half-opened eyes. I didn't want the people who were talking to know I was awake.

"Want me to wake him up?" the sharp voice grinned. He was skinny dude with long legs that looked like chopsticks. I glanced at another guy, the first one that spoke—he was very bulky, taller than Donnie and bigger than Raph.

_**Are they Purple Dragons?**_

They were approaching. It didn't take too much time before I noticed there were more people behind them. Maybe four to six of them? The scrawny guy and stocky guy all had weapons in their hands—a pocketknife and an iron rod. Wouldn't want to be hit by those.

**_Gotta run. Now._**

I sprang to my feet and ran as fast as I could toward the other end of the alley. My body was still sluggish from sleep but I could feel it getting more and more tense from…what? _Adrenaline, right?_

"_Get him!_" the guy with the rod shouted.

I could hear them behind me. _Why are they chasing me? I don't have money and I'm sure I ain't a pretty girl. So why are they after me?_

_Is it because I'm Raph's brother? They said so. Raph and Casey are their biggest enemy besides cops and other gangs around._

_But that still doesn't make sense. Why are they chasing me? Wh—_

"_Ooooh!_" Someone grasped my shirt from the back and I stumbled, my face hitting the ground.

I quickly scrambled to my feet as the guy—the _Chopsticklegs_—who had snatched me lost his grip. I met his eyes and saw his face twisted in cruelty. That was when I finally realized what they were doing and _why_ they were doing this.

_Bloodthirsty creeps._ That's what Casey had called them. They were bloodthirsty.

_They just want to see me suffer._

I felt my body flooded over by the sense of horror and I turned to run, again, before he had a chance to grab my leg. And I felt a hot pain bulged just beneath my knee. For a moment I thought he almost had me, but then I quickly realized it was just a scratch of his knife. The wound throbbed in pain when I was running again, but it also alerted me.

Now we were on the streets. There wasn't much traffic, and almost no passerby in sight. I felt hopeless as I saw the street stretched on before me like endless. They were still behind me and they seemed to enjoy the game so far.

_Don't panic, Michelangelo. You know martial arts. You are faster than anyone of them. You're braver than anyone of them…_

I tried to calm myself by whispering out loud rapidly. The air was too cold and it trapped my limbs and felt heavy in my chest.

When I turned into another alley my heart sank. _Dead end._

I turned to face them.

"_HELP!_" I yelled as loud as I could, hoping somebody would hear me. **_"HELP!"_**

"Nobody's gonna help ya, Blond," Chopsticklegs smirked.

So there was only one choice left.

They were panting. They were slow now from the chase. I was gasping for breath, too, but I knew I could fight. _I'm trained._

When Chopsticklegs approached me again I swung out a feet. I caught him off guard and he fell. I grinned. _Really._ Didn't know why I did that but I grinned like a crazy dude.

The bulky boy was on. He roared and waved the rod in his hand. I ducked and punched him in his belly, but he was too strong. He simply gave a snort and hit me with the rod. The blow was on my left upper arm and I cried out in pain.

Falling down, I thought desperately about what could I do. Even if I could knock out Chopsticklegs and Rodboy, I was still dangerously outnumbered. I had only been trained in one to one combat, and I had only sparred with my brothers or dad's other pupils. I had never fight like this before—against merciless criminals.

I was lying next to a garbage bin. I quickly grabbed some empty bottles and threw them towards Rodboy before he could strike again. A bottle hit him on his forehead and he howled angrily, stumbling back.

Chopsticklegs were slowly rising up to his feet, while other Dragons were looking at each other, not knowing what to do. Now was my chance. And I took it and ran.

But Rodboy was there again. Suddenly he was in front of me; his forehead was bleeding and his eyes glaring.

A hand touched my shoulder from behind and I was startled, turning around and kicking out instinctively. It was another Dragon, who was trying to grab my arm. He cried out and fell back. I saw his face turning into a shocked and pained expression. He was just a boy like me, maybe of the same age. I couldn't help but felt bad.

Just a moment of hesitation, Rodboy attacked me again. This time the rod hit me on my right shoulder and the next second I was on my knees. I clutched Rodboy's leg since it happened to be in front of me—and I bit it hard. He yelled and tried to shake me off. The pain in my shoulder was unbearable and it made me furious. I had never felt so angry before in my life.

He thrashed me with the rod and my back was on fire. I unclenched my teeth and I could barely see as Rodboy kicked me in my chest and I was sent back flying, and fell heavily on my back. My head was slammed back, hitting on the hard brick wall behind me, and my vision darkened instantly.

I guess I blacked out a little. But I still heard faint sounds; they sounded as though they were coming from miles away under water.

"_MIKEY!_"

Someone was calling my name. The voice was so familiar but I just couldn't remember who it was. I heard several cries and sounds of fighting and struggling. But I wasn't sure about what I heard—they all sounded distant and strange.

And then there was a blunt noise, slowly penetrating through my blurry perception, _loud and deafening_. I struggled to sit up but my limbs disobeyed me.

_Gunfire._ It was the sound of gunfire.

"**_Mikey!_**"

And at the same time, the same person yelled at me again. _Who is it?_ He sounded desperate. I wanted to reach out to him, to tell him I was okay. But I was not. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't even move a finger.

I'm sure it all happened within seconds, but it felt like forever. The firing of the gun, the loud but dull thumps in my chest, and the calling of my name.

Finally, I saw something. Something was moving. Shadows. And I felt something heavy over my body. Someone had stumbled and fallen into my arms.

I lifted my gaze and saw a face, a boy—_the very same boy I had knocked down_—standing only a few feet in front of me and staring down at me. He held a pistol in his trembling fingers, his eyes burning with hatred.

He turned to _run_.

I didn't know what just happened. I blinked again and the boy was gone from the alley. They were all gone now. All of the Purple Dragons. I wanted to stand up, but I couldn't gather any strength. _But it wasn't me. The bullet hadn't struck me._

And then a strangled moan startled me.

Something heavy was leaning against my chest. It's moving, and it's making strange sounds. I slowly looked down.

My body went cold and empty as I recognized who had been calling me.

"Raph?" I whispered.

His head leaned against my chest, slumping to one side in an uncomfortable position. His limbs spread wide apart, lying unmoving on the cold concrete. His odd green eyes were staring, glazed and absent.

"Raph!" Suddenly I found the strength to pull myself up; I sat straight and quickly moved to his side, carefully laid his upper body down to the ground.

His eyes flickered toward me as he heard his name.

"…_Y''kay M'key?_" His lips barely moved as he asked.

I was trembling so hard that I couldn't even utter a response.

I stared at his shirt; it looked wet. And I felt like my head just received another blow when I saw the edge of the clothes was dripping blood.

_He was shot._

—End of chapter eight.

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:** _MissCookiiie_, you're right about the fighting.


	9. So The Stranger Whistles

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:**

For all those who reviewed, _Athese, crystalbladedragon, InsaneDutchGirl, ducky mikey, LovelyLittleStrawberry, MissCookiiie, Avatar Aang, Raigon, cup-mikey-gertha, tmntlover2013, annastiara,_ I give you all my big thanks and...I don't know what else I can give you besides a new chapter LOL.

**To cup-mikey-gertha:** I was hoping somebody would notice that poster lol. You're right about the not-remembering-the mother-at-all thing. It will be more interesting if they have some memories. (BTW, I wrote "over ten years", not exactly ten years. But I'm considering rewrite that sentence anyway.) And the restaurant...Raph and Leo's fight was way too over! Loud laughter and conversations are allowed. And Leo's novel choice. Kudos on you noticing that bit too! It's actually just some of my personal favorites (except Tolstoy) but of course I thought Leo would enjoy them. You think Leo's in character in my story? I was afraid I made him a bad guy (or, a jerk) in my story (I always give him a hard time in my fics lol). Of course it's Raph's fault, they'll know.

**-In this chapter** you'll know why this story is named Stranger Whistles. Sorry about the big cliffhanger, I was too evil. _Aber kein Angst meine Freundinnen!_

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine: So The Stranger Whistles<strong>

[Michelangelo]

_He was shot._

And I sat there, frozen, shaking.

"…'ikey." Raph blinked in effort, "I…"

He looked shocked, scared even. Raph was never scared, even if he was, he never show it. Never. He hated to be scared.

But he was scared, and wasn't trying to hide it now. And that scared me, too.

I was trembling so hard, couldn't even press my hands on his wound. I didn't even know where it was. _His chest? His stomach? Or his—_

Raph was trying to finish the sentence that was already starting to slur.

"_…'__s wrong,_" he simply said. "_Don' w'nna die._"

"Stop talkin' Raph." I croaked.

"_'__M s'rry, 'ikey. Tell 'eo…'oo._"

His eyelids were drooping dangerously. A single tear rolled down from his eyes.

"_HELP!_" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "_HELP!_"

I didn't have a phone with me. Raph didn't have one either. I couldn't even call a goddamn ambulance.

"_HELP!_" I kept screaming. "_HELP! PLEASE! __**HELP!**_" I screamed over and over again and it seemed like the whole world was deaf or dead because nobody listened to me.

"Raph. _Please._ Open your eyes." His eyelids quivered, but he didn't open them. His face had gone white. _I'll have to run to the streets and borrow a phone or I'll have to…_

"_SOMEONE__** HELP!**_" I yelled again. "**My**—"

A hand patted me on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw a man.

"Hey there kid. What happened?" He asked. It was _a passerby who had heard my call_, a young man with a cap and a red scarf around his neck.

I was confused for a second. And then I realized what was the man doing—_he was offering help_. And when I grasped the meaning of that, I felt that I was going to collapse due to relief.

"My brother…he was _shot_." My voice quavered.

He knelt down beside Raph, still looking calm and all. "Alright. I need you to listen to me, okay?" He quickly glanced at me while his fingers moved hastily to unbutton Raph's shirt. I nodded.

I held back the urge to cover my eyes as the bullet hole was revealed. Red everywhere. Raph's usually bronze skin now looked so pallid, and his muscular body frail under the faint light of the pale street lamp.

The man inspected the wound briefly and pulled his scarf off his neck; his scarf was very thick and extra long—it would make a good bandage. "The bullet didn't penetrate his body. It's better for now. I need you to lift him up a bit so I can wrap up the wound. Be _very_ careful."

I set to work.

"Now," he wrapped his scarf as tight as he could around Raph's waist while he said, "My phone is in my coat pocket. Call the ambulance." I reached into his pocket and found his phone soon enough. While I was dialing the number, he checked Raph's pulse and dilation—_the way he did it was like he had done it a thousand times before._ When I hung up the phone, he turned to ask me, "What's your brother's name?"

"Raphael," I answered.

He leaned closer to Raph's face. Raph was barely breathing, his lids closed.

"Raphael," the man called his name, gently but firmly. "Stay with us. Don't fall asleep just yet. Need you to stay awake. You hear me, kid?"

He called Raph's name again and again until Raph's lips parted slightly like he had heard the man and started coughing. The man gently turned Raph's head to a side and pressed a handkerchief on his mouth. "You make sure he doesn't gag on his own blood," the man said to me.

Raph stopped coughing; he looked like he wanted to say something.

"Easy." The man told Raph. "Don't talk. Just hang in there. We'll get you to a hospital."

"M…ikey."

"Don't say anything, Raph." I grabbed his hand.

Raph opened his eyes. His eyes weren't as piercing as usual; it looked inanimate and gray. "Th'ks," he said.

"_What the hell are you talking about?_" I cried, "Just _stop talking_! You can tell us everything when you get better. _Ya don't have to say it like you're gonna die!_"

Tears trailed along his cheeks and his lips started to tremble.

I wiped away the tears with my shirtsleeves. "You're gonna be alright, Raph." I said softly, though I wasn't sure. I held his hand tight in my own. His hand was cold.

"Keep talkin' to him," the man said, taking off his coat. "Have to keep him warm," he muttered and covered Raph with the coat from his chin down.

Raph's eyelids were falling again. I watched the man as he laid a palm on Raph's cheek and said, "Stay awake, Raphael, the ambulance will be here in no time. Keep your eyes open."

Then he turned to me, "Be tough, your brother need you right now. Don't let him see you like this." I nodded, but it was hard. _Raph is dying; it is obvious—_

The man shook his head as if he could read my thoughts.

"He'll be alright," he said softly and calmly.

_How d'you know?_

"I just do," he said in a languid but resolute voice.

His eyes locked mine. Somehow I believed him.

"He'll pull through," the man in cap said. "Everything's gonna be okay."

-O-

The ambulance had arrived.

When they were carrying Raph to the ambulance, I turned around to thank the man who had helped.

"You don't have to." He raised a hand. "I'm just a stranger who happened to be around." _That's not true. I know it._

"Thank you, sir. Really." I said it anyway. "And my name is Michelangelo Hamato. Are you a doctor?"

He shook his head. "I'm just an ordinary guy. The name's Kevin," he said, showing a slight smile and then turned to walk away.

I'm sure I heard faint sounds of whistle. He was just whistling even though he just witnessed such a horrible scene. Weird. But for some reason the song sounded sad.

Or was the whistle only my imagination?

* * *

><p>[Leonardo &amp; Donatello]<p>

The Hamato residence was a bleak wreck without the youngest son.

Donatello sat in front of his desk, absentmindedly fiddling with his notebook pages. He wasn't reading anything in particular, just glancing through the pages. Now and then he would look around the living room and found it empty, and then he would sigh, sinking back deep into his thoughts again.

Michelangelo was always home. Even if he went out with his friends, he would never come home later then 9 p.m., except when he and Raph went out together. He was usually the first one to be home, sitting on the couch watching TV or reading comic books, waiting for his elder brothers to return. And when his brothers came back, Mikey always greeted them with his distinctive hearty beam—his brothers had taken that for granted for so long a time that they had forgotten how special it is. Sure, Mikey had a very lighthearted and buoyant nature, but it didn't mean that he could put up with so many negative arguments and problems without being affected. He had his limits, too.

But it was too late for them to realize that.

Donnie had always been the closest to Mikey. Mikey liked to stick around him, maybe because Leo was too serious and taciturn and Raph teased and smacked him too much—the two eldest were somewhat hard on their baby brother. Donnie, on the other hand, rarely criticized or spoke harshly to anybody, and was rather gentle by nature. Maybe it's the reason why Mikey liked to spend times with him. However, Donnie often felt annoyed by him, because Mikey always disturbed his work and research, and talking nonsense like _endless_. He would not tell Mikey to get lost, but sometimes he really had to _endure_ Mikey's company.

Now he missed it.

-O-

Leonardo was on his bed, half leaning on his pillows. He had been having this room to himself for days now. It had been quiet and free. He had always wanted to have his own room for he was a person who enjoyed solitude and needed privacy. When Raph was around, he had to put up with Raph's headphone blasting loud noise all the time (_he could still hear it even with Raph listening through the headphone; he often told Raph he would be deaf before he's sixty_)—and not to mention Raph's occasional sarcastic remark to him and everything he did. And the way Raph lying lazily on his bed with his stuff scattered around the bed, dirty clothes, magazines and litter—the scene was so messy that Leo would get so irritated and not able to focus on the things he was doing. His world was very well ordered, while Raph lived in constant anarchy.

For some reason he felt that he didn't know Raphael anymore. They were inseparable when they were younger—Raph sure liked to compete with him in almost everything, such as grades, martial arts training, and games, and they sometimes argued, but back then they always forgot the quarrels and soon made peace with each other. And despite his foul temper, Raph used to be a good kid; he used to like to spend time with the family as much as his other brothers and obey Master Yoshi's_ most_ orders.

But after they entered adolescence things changed—Leonardo didn't think he himself changed much, though. But Raph was like a different person; his temper became uncontrollable and when it reached boiling point he would just storm off and would not come home the whole night. Their father had tried to forbid this kind of behavior, but Raph was wild and almost_ insane _when he had his fits.

Leo breathed deeply. He had to calm down. It was not helpful that he stayed restless and worried. Maybe half an hour of meditation would restore his peace of mind.

O-O-O

It was hours later, the phone rang, and the mostly empty apartment was resonant with the sharp and alarming sounds.

Donnie straightened himself on his chair—he had dozed off a bit—and looked toward the direction of the phone—it was next to the couch—and saw Leo was already there, picking it up without a moment of delay.

"Hello, this is Leonardo Hamato speaking," Leo said, still looking cool, "…Um, yes? ...Yeah." Suddenly his face turned pale. "…_Yeah_, I think…it is him… We'll be there. Thanks for your information."

"Did someone see him?" Donnie asked quickly.

Leo was already reaching for his jacket. "Grab the keys Donnie. We have to go to the hospital. Someone called 9-1-1 an hour ago. And it seems like the person is Mikey."

"Mikey called an ambulance doesn't mean he'd be in the hospital. And people dialed 9-1-1 all the time. Why told us something happened an hour ago?" Donnie frowned. "He just called—"

"_Thanks for your deduction Donnie._ But he might be there, and we have to find out," Leo said and ran to the door hurriedly.

"I don't get it." Donnie put on his sweater and followed his brother to the door. "How did they know it was Mikey? And why would they know who called? There must be an investigation…but why? Did something happen? There's a case…of what? ..."

"_Stop asking Donnie._ Hurry."

* * *

><p>[Michelangelo]<p>

I waited there, and it felt like forever.

I stood in the middle of that hallway in the hospital, just stood there. I didn't even pace or anything. I just stood there pinned to the ground. I didn't cry at all.

_You have to be more wary of things happening around you, because sometimes you lose track of the succession of things and…things fall apart..._I remembered Leo said to me.

_Things fall apart. _Just like now. And I could've avoided them. _If I haven't run behind Raph, or haven't dropped off in that stupid alley, Raph would still be okay by now. If I haven't call for help, or if I haven't kicked the boy who had the gun…_

_If Raph wasn't Raph. If Raph hasn't tried to be a vigilante._

-O-

When someone touched my shoulder after what felt like a million years, I flinched and almost screamed in alert. But when I turned around and the person who had touched me pulled me into a choking tight embrace, my tears started to stream down and everything crumbled.

"_Mikey,_" Leo only uttered.

I looked up and met his dark pupils. When he saw the look on my face his eyes darkened instantly.

"What _happened_ Mikey?" another voice asked. I looked behind and saw Donnie, who looked frightened, too.

"It's Raph, isn't it." Leo's lips were trembling; his hands were shaking. I clung to his arms and plunged myself into them. I caught a glimpse of his expression and it shocked me. I had never seen Leo like this. He looked like he took a bullet, too, at that very moment—his eyes were wide and the invisible threads that were always carefully fastened to keep his face calm and stern…they just snapped and all the emotions he had been suppressing his whole life until this moment emerged and flooded out like an unstoppable force.

I buried my face in his chest, clenching my fists on his sleeves.

Donnie stepped forward and put a hand on my back. "_What happened, Mikey?_" he asked again, this time he sounded lost and confused.

I could feel Leo's breaths were quicker and shallower than usual; I didn't want to pull away just yet—I needed him and he needed me more.

"_T-tell us_, Mikey." Leo's voice came out in a rasp.

"Donnie." I finally loosened the grip on Leo and turned my face to my third brother. "R-raph, he was…"

Donnie's clear eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed. I finally managed to finish the sentence. "…Was shot."

His eyes widened. "_Is he—_"

"He's still alive." I quickly said. "They had to get the bullet out and fix him. I don't know how long will the operation last."

Donnie nodded, and wrapping his arms around Leo and me.

For a long while we just stood there that way.

—End of chapter nine.


	10. It Came Like A Thunderbolt

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-Warning:<strong>

I don't even bother to warn you there are curse words in this anymore. You know there are.

**-A/N:**

Thanks guys for your reviews, _InsaneDutchGirl, Raigon, Athese, ducky mikey, tmntlover2013, and Miss Cookiiie!_

Gosh, I don't know, maybe I'm just the kind of person that likes to turn everything inside out. I've been thinking about it. Why do I have to put so many emotion into this? Heck, I really have no idea. lol. Maybe you can tell me. Sorry guys, but I can't help it. You'll get some fluffy moments in this chapter I promise.

Well, it's a story about redemption, not tragedy. That's all I can tell you for now. It's also close to an end. Maybe one or two more chapters and it's done. _Stay with me till the end...(chuckle)_

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten: It Came Like A Thunderbolt<strong>

[Raphael]

**-Earlier-**

_He was sure he was going to die._

He hadn't known it when he planted himself firmly before his unconscious little brother, though.

He had thought the kid—the_ young Purple Dragon_—was just trying to scare them with the gun. The kid was very young, even younger than Mikey. _He wouldn't do such a thing right?_ His eyes were unsure and afraid. They all knew Raph and Casey, the two nutcases that had been messing with their jobs.

Raphael had wanted to tell the kid to drop the gun; he wasn't going to hurt him anyway. He just wanted Mikey to be safe.

They had stood face to face for a moment. No one had moved.

And then Raph made a horrible mistake.

He _raised his arm._ Only an inch. But he moved. Why would he do that? He was just telling the kid _it's safe to drop the gun, he wasn't going to hurt him. _But the kid obviously misinterpreted his gesture.

Something flashed in the kid's eyes. It all happened within a second. _The gun going off. The kid's face looking ugly and shocked. Raph calling out Mikey's name though he knew the bullet wouldn't harm his brother. Something burning and fiery searing through his abdomen. The image of death taking hold of him._

It all happened within that second.

The force was so great that it sent him back crashing into Mikey. He caught a glimpse of the kid staring down at him, eyes filling with disgust and confusion. And then the kid ran away.

But Raph didn't care anymore. Let the kid run to where he wanted. Vengeance, hatred, anger…none of these came to his mind when he realized what was happening.

_He was dying._

Strangely, the first thing came into his mind was his brothers. _Leonardo._ So the last conversation between them was that stupid, horrible argument. He would never had the chance to tell Leo that he thought his big brother was someone other than a nagging son of a bitch. He would never be able to tell Leo that he actually admired him; he was just _jealous_, somehow, because he knew he would never be as perfect as the Fearless One. _Donnie._ Donnie thought he was some kind of trouble generator and he understood it, but was that all? He could remember some years ago, the night he and Donnie had stayed up to hack into the database of the charity to find out who were their biological parents; and when they finally knew why their mother had to give them up, it destroyed all their hopes. Donnie was very distressed. On the other hand, Raph pretended he didn't give a damn. So what? He had already known human was dirty and ugly inside. Humanity was bullshit. But he couldn't bear to see Donnie losing his hope like this. The way Donnie looked at him that night. He just _couldn't bear it._ Donnie was innocent in some way, just like Mikey. And they were all they had. Genius Donatello and his troublemaker twin brother Raphael. But at least they had each other in this fucking world. Finally there was _Mikey._ What would Mikey think of him after he was gone? Always fighting and running away from the family? Always teasing and smacking him, but never showing enough _appreciation_? And he would die in front of Mikey. The thought was horrifying. He could never, never let Mikey watch something like this. _Would it change him?_ Would it change the way Mikey look at the world with his clear blue eyes? Oh God.

_Splinter_. He never called him dad after he was thirteen. And he had never been Splinter's favorite son. Hell, he was unlikable. And he had been deliberately making himself a jerk from time to time. Why would he do that? Would his father mourn his death? _Would he?_ If he wanted to forget everything about the least favorite son and quickly move on, Raph understood. But if God granted him a second chance…never mind the second chance. _Since when did he start to believe in God?_

He was a fool. He was a fucking moron.

"Raph?"

He heard Mikey.

_Go away Mikey_, he wanted to say. But he couldn't say it. _Help me, Mikey_, that's what he really wanted to say. _Don't let me die, please._

He told Mikey something he forgot the second it was uttered.

He couldn't really see Mikey. There were tears in his eyes and everything looked blurry—even the smoggy sky above him. For a moment he thought he saw stars, then he decided it was probably an illusion. But they were beautiful…weren't they? He wished they were real. For him. For his fear.

* * *

><p>[Michelangelo]<p>

"Donnie, take Mikey home," Leo had said that half an hour ago, and now he said it again.

I was dozing off again; this time I almost fell off the chair and it was Leo who caught me and laid me down on his lap.

I opened my eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere!" I exclaimed, struggling to pull free from Leo's grasp.

"_Shhhh_, Mikey. It's quiet here," Leo said gently, "You're worn out. You have to take a rest."

"Raph is probably _DYING _in there!" I cried, standing up and pointing to the door in the end of the long, white hallway.

"He's not," Leo said seriously, but I saw no certainty in his eyes.

"I can't go home." I said, trembling. "I can't go home _while_—"

"_Mikey,_" Donnie interrupted, "Leo's right. You are too tired. When you're tired you despair. So let's go home, okay?"

"_You're crazy or WHAT? You can't just leave him!_" I lifted my voice.

"—You're being hysterical Mikey," Donnie said, "You—"

"You _WEREN'T THERE_!_ You didn't see what he's like! You didn't_—"

"Slow down, Mikey. Slow down." Leo clutched my shoulders and whispered. "We aren't leaving him."

"**_You weren't there."_** I repeated loudly.

Leo and Donnie exchanged glances, and then Leo sighed.

"Alright. Nobody's going anywhere, Mikey." Leo compromised. "But you lie down and take a rest, okay?"

"I don't wanna sleep."

"We'll wake you up once the operation's over." Donnie said.

"I _TOLD_ you you didn't see what happened." I said with force.

"You wouldn't tell us," Leo muttered.

"_I don't wanna talk about it right now,_" I said irritably. "_Okay?_"

"Sure Mikey," Leo said heavily.

"Wake me up if I fall asleep," I mumbled, leaning against Leo's shoulder. My big brother put an arm around me.

"Leo," Donnie said in a small voice, "Have you—?"

"Yeah, I did."

"_What are you talking about?_" I sat straight, alerted.

"Relax, Mikey!" Leo hushed me. "Donnie was just asking me have I called dad yet."

"No whispering and conspiracy okay? I'm not a kid," I glared at the two of them.

"Sure, sure," Leo sighed, pulling—_forcing_—me near him, "Take a rest, Mikey."

I closed my eyes, but I wasn't trying to sleep; I was just resting a bit.

"_Mikey's on edge,_" I heard Leo whisper to Donnie. _Here, they're doing it again. But I'm too tired to get angry with them again._

"He's been through too much. Want me to take him home after he fall asleep?"

"How long will this kind of surgery last, Donnie? It's been hours."

"That depends," Donnie said lowly. "Mikey didn't say how bad it was. If it's only a scrape…"

"Doesn't seem like it's only a scrape," Leo muttered.

There was a moment of pause, and then Donnie spoke again.

"What did dad tell you?"

"He said he would be here as soon as he can. He's on his way."

"Leo."

"Yeah, Donnie."

"I'm…I don't know if—"

"Don't say anything then. C'mon, if you're tired you can lean on me and take a doze too. You're right. If you're tired, you despair."

-O-

Since we were inside the building and there wasn't a single window on this hallway, we couldn't tell whether the sun had risen up or not. But I assumed it was probably some time after dawn when the automatic doors at the end of the hallway slid open and a man in green clothes and mask came out.

He walked toward us; we all stood up.

"You must be Raphael's…family?" he looked at us with a weary but scrutinizing gaze.

"I'm Leonardo Hamato, Raphael's brother," Leo answered for us.

"I'm Doctor Rose."

They quickly shook hands with each other. And then the doctor cleared his throat and looked at Leo in the eyes.

"He's out of danger for now," he said.

My knees almost gave out when I heard him; Donnie caught me and pulled me into his arms. I glanced at him and he gave me a weak smile.

"What do you mean 'for now'?" Leo frowned.

"The operation was successful; we've done everything we can. Your brother is young and strong. But the damage is great. We'll need time to see if everything is going back to normal. Now the most important thing is he's alive. Once he regains consciousness things will get easier," Rose explained.

Leo asked him some other questions I couldn't remember. All I knew is _he's alive_. And that was all I need to know. The night was finally over, and I was grateful.

O-O-O

I stood tiptoed by the bathtub and looked down into it.

"Don't fall asleep in the tub, Mikey," Donnie said loudly outside the bathroom.

"I won't," I said.

I was pretty sleepy. I was basically half-asleep, actually. But I didn't want to go to bed with all the blood and dust on my clothes and my body. I felt nauseated by the thought.

I wanted the warm embrace of hot water.

I stepped into the water and slipped into it. _Ain't it feel good?_

But the night kept coming back. The moment I closed my eyes, I saw the boy with the gun again. I kept asking myself, _why would he do that?_ Why would somebody do such a thing?

_I guess I didn't know why._

Maybe Raph knew. That was why he fought with the Purple Dragons though he didn't really have to.

I guess I didn't understand hatred and the way it worked.

-O-

"_Mikey!_"

I startled, sitting straight in the tub and shivering. _Geez, it's cold._

"Mikey!" it was Donnie. "You fell asleep, did't you?"

"I'll be out in a minute!" I yelled back at him through my chattering teeth.

I quickly got out of the cold water. Gosh it was cold. I wrapped the towel around my waist and hastily opened the bathroom door.

When I stepped out of the bathroom I almost collided with Donnie. He was standing right in front of the door.

"I told you not to fall asleep, doofus. You'll catch a cold," he frowned, still looking sharp despite his tired state.

"I think I already have," I smiled sheepishly, waiting for him to smile back or sigh or pulling his _Donnie-the-know-it-all_ face. But he did none of those.

Instead he gasped.

"What is this? _You didn't tell us you're hurt Mikey!_"

"Am I?" I frowned.

Donnie pointed at a dark purple mark on my left arm, and then at my right shoulder.

"Oh, I forgot."

"You forgot! What exactly happened, Mikey?" he asked.

"It's just the Purple Dragons Donnie, they—"

"Is it because of Raph?_ They attacked you because you're Raph's brother, isn't it?_"

"I-I guesso," I shrugged.

"This is serious Mikey! Why didn't you tell us? What did they hit you with?"

"A metal stick…it's okay now I guess...Can I go back to my room now? It's cold."

"Oh, sorry," he sighed, moving out of my way. I went into the bedroom and he followed me. "Anyway," he said, "There might be fractured bones or something… Why didn't you tell us? _A metal stick?_ God! We should have had you checked in the hospital."

"It might get better in a week. It's not so bad."

"Lemme see," he motioned me to sit down on my bed.

"Oh, oh, don't do that, please," I winced when he poked my arm.

"Does it hurt?"

"Of course!"

"I wish you could tell us earlier, Mikey."

"I forgot! And it's just bruises!"

"What about this?" he gestured the cut on my knee. It had stopped bleeding long, long time ago, and I forgot about it as well. It was not as bad as it had felt like, but it was still a long scratch.

"Uh, some guy cut me with his knife," I said, watching Donnie's face darkened.

"Wait here, I'll get my first aid kit."

"'M not goin' anywhere," I yawned.

I put on my shorts and lay down on my bed. _Who cares about the stupid bruises? I'll look tough with them. I'm going to sleep._

-O-

"Mikey."

"Hmmmm."

"Roll over."

I did as he said. "I look tough right, Donnie," I slurred.

"You look miserable," Donnie sighed, he was applying something cool and soothing on my bruised back. _Thank you, Roddie-boy._

"Every time Raph came home like this y'thought he's miserable too?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

I could feel Donnie shrug. "It's pointless. You got angry, you hit somebody, someone hit you back, you got hurt, and you got even angrier. What's the point of that?"

"_True, my friend, true,_" I said solemnly.

"What happened tonight?"

"Y'mean last night."

"Oh, yeah."

"I fell asleep in an alley and woke up surrounded by a bunch of _PDs_," I paused briefly, waiting for him to figure out what 'PD' stood for. _Poor Donnie could be thinking of PDF or stuff like that._ "I ran, but I ran into a dead end. When I was sorta out of it—"

"You're _knocked out cold_?" Donnie gasped again. _Boy, way to give your brother a heart attack today._

"Lemme finish _ma story_ okay _D_? Raph showed up and fought 'em off. But there was this boy with a gun, Donnie. I…"

I stopped; the image of the boy came back again. And then I saw Raph's face, pale and scared.

"I think Raph took the bullet for me," I rasped. "He was tryin' to protect me. I think."

"Yeah, it's something he'd do," Donnie said quietly, and then he patted my unwounded shoulder lightly, "You alright Mikey?"

I shook my head, rubbing my tears on the mattress.

"It's okay to cry, Mikey," he said warmly, "Want me to give you the icepack so you can freeze your tears?"

I couldn't help but chuckled. "What's that for? Why would I do that?"

"It's a stupid thing you did when you were little."

"Oh, you mean, the time Raph broke your calculator and you cried like a baby?"

"Hey, I was only nine years old!"

"Yeah I remember. I froze your tears by an icepack, right? That was hilarious!" I burst out laughing, though sleepily.

Donnie laughed, too. I felt him pulling the covers over me and tucking me in.

"Good night, Mikey," he said gently.

"Good night, Donnie. Love you, all of you."

I opened my eyes to see his awkward reaction, and smiled. Hadn't say that in a long time but I felt like saying it.

* * *

><p>[Raphael]<p>

_He regretted._

_He regretted everything he had ever done._

_He regretted that the first time Leo had beaten him in a sparring match, he had attacked Leo from behind and given his older brother a concussion._

_He regretted that he had broken the bike Splinter bought him on his seventh birthday just to piss his father off when he was punished for hurting his brother._

_He regretted that he had torn an exam sheet to pieces and thrown them on his fourth grade English teacher's face._

_He wanted to take back every word he had shouted at his adopted father._

_He wanted to invert the time so he could go back to every family dinner he had ruined and wanted to just sit there being a good son._

_He regretted that he had yelled at Casey when he should be thanking and comforting his battered best friend. Casey was the most faithful._

_He regretted his vigilante adventure. Leo was right. It was dangerous, too dangerous._

_He regretted every pain and trouble he had caused his family._

_He regretted so badly that he wished he could die. But in that mist of pain and everything, he realized that he didn't want to die at all. Suddenly death didn't seem as appealing and glorious anymore. __**Death is ugly. Blood is awful. Madness is overwhelming.**_

_—__And he was weak and fragile._

_Realization came like a thunderbolt, piercing him from the middle and shattering him into tiny pieces._

_For a moment he was not Raphael, but a nameless soul. He was able to look into his own mind and find that pure, clear spot where he knew he was flawless and fresh like a newborn child._

_He suddenly realized that he wanted to live. He wanted to live and cherish everything when he still got a chance. And how stupid, just how ignorant he was to want to throw everything away? And hurting people around him? Most of all, hurting himself?_

_"__My son."_

He blinked.

_"__Raphael," _the voice spoke again.

He slowly opened his eyes, and when he saw that familiar intelligent face, marred by concern and strain, he felt like he was going to cry.

"Dad…"

—End of chapter ten.

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:** I've been so busy this week and this morning when I got on the bus, the bus driver even turned around to ask me if I'm okay because I looked totally worn out. So now I'm counting on you guys' reviews to make my day better. _Just kidding! lol._

And It really comes like a thunderbolt.


	11. Let It Flow Into The Sea

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-AN: **(so many A/N today if you're uninterested just skip it)

Hi guys! Thank you so so very much for your reviews. That kinda saved me at the beginning of this week since I've been kind of a wreck these two weeks.

Thank you, crystalbladedragon (_It's realistic because it's slightly based on some personal experience_), Raigon, cup-mikey-gertha (_your long reviews always makes my day! BTW I don't know if you can actually freeze tears with ice pack, that just sort of came across my mind_), Athese, nightfuryperson, InsaneDutchGirl (_thank you for your encouragement, that really sort of saved me, no kidding_), ducky mikey, Guest, mikeysgirl228, Dead Hero (_love your fan screams, Raph fan here too_), tmntlover2013, MissCookiiie (_I guess I'm safe from your banana now?_), and Blogger9999999 (_Oh I love to break my characters down, that might sound terrible too_).

I really don't want this story to end too! As I was wrapping it up, I thought I might miss it after it ends. I have had so much fun(?) writing it. And I think it's also something that need to come out of me. Anyway, I'm thinking about a sequel but I haven't have any good ideas so if you guys have anything in mind please give me some advice, thanks!

This is the last chapter if there's no accident. But there will be one more epilogue. Thank you for reading the story.

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!). And Buddha's words and translation (I actually translated it from Chinese to English before some other people had translated it into Chinese).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eleven: Let It Flow Into The Sea<strong>

* * *

><p><em>"How can you prevent a drop of water from drying up?<em>

_-By let it flow into the sea."_

_-Buddha_

* * *

><p>[Yoshi]<p>

Hamato Yoshi, a man possessed of an aura of dignity, was in his early fifties. Tall and rugged, the man was heavyset but not at all looked like an athlete, for an athlete was not likely to show this kind of intelligence and penetration. Yoshi was also a man of knowledge, of wisdom. He had thick black hair that had begun to show whiteness, and dark, sharp eyes that were able to show gentleness and comprehension at any time. But it was also noted that he was a deadly fighter and a leader of a secret ninja clan in his youth; and that is the origin of his dreaded nickname,_ Splinter_.

"My son, how are you feeling right now?" he asked, looking intently at his second-eldest son's confused and glassy stare.

The ward was quiet. Raphael had to share this room with other three patients; they were mostly asleep with the curtain around the bed drown close. If they were to speak, they must not disturb the others.

Raphael made a choked sound from his throat; it was probably an effort to say something.

"Should I get a nurse?" Leonardo asked worriedly by his father's side. He was the only son present, despite Raphael. Donatello and Michelangelo stayed at home.

"Yes, Leonardo, would you please ask for them," Yoshi said, putting a hand on Raph's forehead.

"_Dad…_" Raphael said in a hoarse whisper.

Hearing his son, Yoshi's eyes widened a little, but he was quickly back to his normal calm self.

"You must not exert yourself to speak now, my son," he said gently.

Raphael fixed his gaze on his father, and then shook his head.

"I—" he licked his dry lips, "I'm…"

As if he could read his son's thoughts, Yoshi shushed him, "It's okay, Raphael. You're in the hospital, and you have slept for two days. Is there pain? Do you need anything?"

Raphael shook his head slightly. But Yoshi could tell that not only was pain troubling his son, something else was disturbing him, too.

"Raphael," he sighed, "Leonardo and Michelangelo already told me everything."

Raph's eyes widened. He was fully awake.

"I am not angry, nor will I blame you, Raphael," Yoshi said slowly, and tried to be as gentle as he could, "We, humans, are not perfect. Even through all these years of training and meditating, I still make some mistakes. And I must admit, I've been wrong on this matter.

"I thought I knew each of you. I thought that you have grown up into independent young men, so I do not have to watch your every movement and worry about what might happen if I let you go out of my sight," Yoshi paused, shaking his head. "But I was wrong. Maybe I forgot how was it like to be a teenager." He chuckled. "You might think Leonardo was a lot like me, but in fact, I was more like you when I was a youth."

He looked down at his son, eyes scanning painfully through the healing bruises and cuts on Raphael's face. His voice lowered, his expression sinking a shade darker, "I questioned a lot of things. I was hot-tempered, proud, and bold. I embraced hatred and brutality when it came to the ugly side of human and criminals. And I was a man of physical strength and power, my son. To use your term, I was able to _kick their butts_."

Raphael couldn't help but curved his cracked lips into what could be seen as a smile.

"However, as I often tell you, true strength comes from the capacity to love, to contain just as great ocean receive rivers. Violence would not stop the vicious cycle of crime and brutality, Raphael. And I am not saying that you do not have true strength in you. As a matter of fact, you have shown the true power to love."

Raphael raised an eye ridge in question.

"It is true, Raphael. The act of putting yourself in danger in order to protect your little brother, my son, is a very good example. And the act of trying to protect other people—your teammate, for instance, and strangers on the streets—those are all proof of your love as well," Yoshi smiled, "But as I have told you, the cycle of violence goes on and on. And the only way to end it is with love, not with more violence.

"You're on the right path, my son," he said.

And then Yoshi leaned forward, his hands clasping gently but firmly on his son's shoulders. "I am so glad to see that you are all right, my son." He felt Raphael tremble in the awkward embrace—it was hard since he was afraid the act might induce pain to Raphael's wound.

"_I-I want to apologize for my behaviors…_" Raph muttered beside his ear, "_An' I..'m glad to see you, Dad..._" The last few words of his sentence were barely audible.

Releasing his son, Yoshi saw the smile on Raphael's face was something rare and something Yoshi truly missed; he hadn't seen it in a very long time.

Raphael's smile turned into his typical smirk, and Yoshi was glad to see that, too.

_Things may return to normal in no time._

He smiled back at his son, clearing his throat.

"However," he said, "There are still a few things we need to do once you're healed. First of all, you are grounded until the end of the semester. Secondly, no more cigarette and alcohol."

Raphael chuckled quietly. It was also typical of their father.

"Sure thing," he shrugged.

* * *

><p>[Michelangelo]<p>

"Oh God, oh God, oh God!" standing in the living room in early morning, I jumped in my pajamas holding the phone, "He's awake, he's awake, _HE'S AWAKE?_"

"Please don't shout, Mikey," Leo's came out a little bit irritated from the other side of the phone line, "Yeah, he just woke up. The doctor's here."

"Well, what did he say?"

"You mean the doctor, or Raph?"

"Um…both of them?"_ Actually I was asking about Raph, but now that he said the doctor, might as well know what that dude said._

"The doctor checked on him and…he said Raph's looking pretty good. There's no other damage beside the wound. Well, he shouldn't be out of bed in a while, but as soon as the doctor approve, he could come home and rest at home. No need to stay in the hospital for too long."

"Wow, that's great news!"

"Yeah."

"Did Raph say anything?"

"Dad talked with him for some time after he woke up, and he seemed fine. Dad wouldn't let him talk much, saying he needed rest."

"Well, can I come see him?"

"Maybe later? And, uh, Mikey, I have to ask you something."

"…Y'wanna know about what the police said?"

"Yeah. And did you tell them anything?"

"Uh, I told them exactly what I told you. The only clue they had was the…bullet, yeah, and the footage of a security camera somewhere near that alley. And they know it's the Purple Dragons. Well uh, they want Raph and I to point the guy out when they had the photos and the name list of those PDs."

"Will you do that?"

"I guess I know him when I see him," I sounded unsure, "But I don't know…I don't think he did that intentionally—"

"If he's really as young as you, maybe they'll go easy on him, Mikey. But anyway, he did fire the gun and almost kill you and Raph."

"I know it's weird, but…I kinda feel bad for him."

Leo sighed.

"Mikey, we've talked about this before. Let's leave that to the police and the court, okay?"

"Yeah…" I said, stopping for a moment, "I'll see ya later—wait, have you done it yet?"

"Done…what?"

"The deal. You said you'll apologize to Raph once he wakes up."

"C'mon, Mikey."

"Hey, you said it yourself! Said it's not right that you yelled at him at the restaurant!"

"Oh, Father's calling me, gotta go. Later, Mikey."

"Hey!"

I put down the phone as Donnie emerged from the bedroom.

"What is it, Mikey?" he yawned.

"It's _Lemonaderado_."

"…_What?_"

"It's LEO."

"Oh," he yawned again, sitting down on the couch. "You talked so loud, Mikey."

"My bad for wakin' you up."

"It's alright, I need to finish my thesis anyway," he frowned.

"I'll make some coffee for ya."

"Thanks, Mikey," he smiled.

I went into the kitchen.

-O-

Donnie was a black coffee guy. But when he was not so tired, he would care for some milk, which would make it latte, or _café au lait_, to show off my French. _Nah, it's probably one of the handful words I know. But seriously, I think I'm from French descent. I have Paris in my blood. Think about it, Michelangelo Molière or Michel Voltaire or names like that._

As I turned to head out to the living room with Donnie's cup of coffee, I discovered that he was actually sitting by the kitchen table.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in," I said, setting down the coffee.

"I'm a ninja," Donnie smirked.

"No, you're a sixteen-year-old who's about to get his master's degree."

"And a ninja."

"Ya have to come down to the dojo to practice more often."

"Yeah when I got time," he grimaced.

"Are you happy, Donnie?" I asked suddenly as I sat down across him.

"Happy…about what?" he took a sip, frowning at my question.

"You're so tired all the time. And busy."

He shrugged. "I guess I just kind of push myself too hard. But actually it's not quite like that. I just…when I'm engaged in a project, I just can't stop doing it until it's done."

"_Typisch_ Donnie." _This time to show off my German._

"Actually the 'y' should be pronounced as '_ü_', not '_i_'. We don't have that vowel in English."

"You just know everythin', right?" I smiled dryly.

He shrugged that off.

After a moment of silence except the sound of sipping coffee, Donnie spoke again.

"Mikey," he said in a rather serious tone, "Don't run away again, okay?"

It was the first time one of them said that to me. It'd been two days, and they were still sensitive around the subject.

"I wasn't runnin' away," I said, "I was runnin' after Raph."

"But when you couldn't find him, you didn't come home either."

"Guess you're right." I shrugged.

"Why, Mikey?"

"I don't know. You guys were fightin'."

"But you know Leo would go _psycho_."

"Yeah, but he's makin' me loopy too. Sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"I love you all," I said loudly, "I don't wanna choose a side or what. I mean…I know Raph was wrong to barge out like that, but actually…Leo kinda drove him out in the first place."

"I think Leo feels guilty about that night, Mikey."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. It's…_what did you call him_…Leonardo we're talking about."

"_Lemonaderado._"

"Why lemonade?"

"Oh it's sour and bitter, but it tastes good and it's also good fer your health."

Donnie laughed. He had finished his cup of coffee.

He stood up, and I stood up as well. I followed him out of the kitchen. But suddenly he stopped and turned around to face me.

"We don't deserve you, Mikey," he said.

"In a good sense or in a bad sense?" I raised an eye ridge.

"We're bad and you're good," he smiled.

"Huh, really? Can't believe what I just heard," I smiled.

"Yeah, me neither. Can't believe I just said that, but I'm not taking it back."

"Thanks, D."

He glanced around uncomfortably. "Oh, gosh, this is awkward."

"Give your buddy a hug?" I opened my arms with a grin.

He sighed. I hugged him anyway.

* * *

><p>You'd think Raph would be lying on bed, looking weak and fragile and you'd have your chance of teasing him.<p>

But Raph was still Raph no matter what had happened. When I stepped into the ward, I was struck by how well he was actually looking. Maybe a bit _too well_ to me.

He had two pillows tucked under his head and his bed adjusted to an angle so he could half-sit up without hurting his wound. And he wasn't wearing the stupid-looking hospital robe or what-would-you-call-that. His arm was hooked up with an IV bag but that didn't make him look weak or sick either.

He was playing a game of _go_ (_a Chinese or Japanese board game, in case you don't know_) with Leo.

"Raph playing _go_?" my jaw dropped.

"I beat him," Raph grinned, pointing a finger at Leo's nose, "I beat the fearless and strategic leader. Right in your face, Lame-o-nardo."

"We've played it five times and you only managed to beat me once," Leo shoved his finger away.

"Hey, that hurts," he told Leo, and then turned to me, "Mikey. Ya alright?"

"What?"

"You were beaten up by those Dragons," he said. "Weren't you?"

"Were he?" Leo frowned. _Uh-oh, Leo doesn't know about this. He only knows Raph found me when I was cornered by the PDs, but he had no idea I was hurt._

"Oh I'm fine! Absolutely fine! You have a bullet hole in your gut, Raph, and you're askin' me if I'm alright," I smiled nervously. "By the way, you look good."

"I'm tough," he grinned. _Could he stop grinning for a moment? It's kinda bothering me._

As if noticing my puzzled look, "They injected him some drug half an hour ago to ease the pain," Leo said, rubbing his own face tiredly, "He's been acting kind of weird since then."

"Ha ha," I laughed, "That explains it." I took a couple of steps forward, and sat down on a chair by the bed, right opposite Leo. "Where's Dad?"

"He's out shopping, he'll be back soon," Leo replied, folding the go board and gathering the pieces. "How come Donnie did't come with you?"

"He's working on a thesis, he said. After that he'll go to school. Maybe he'll drop by later. It's a weekday after all." It was a weekday but Leo and I had already taken two days off. Leo stayed at the hospital and I was mostly at home resting—Donnie said I'd better rest for a few days. They all thought I was going nuts after what happened on Wednesday night.

A hand rested on my head and ruffled my hair. I looked up and saw Raph smirking at me.

"Nice ta see you in one piece, little brother," he said; his eyes were gentle like never before.

I smiled. "How d'ya find me that night?"

"Well, I was nearby. I heard your scream. Huh, I recognize it anywhere."

"Someone else heard me that night too, Raph," I said, "Do you remember?"

"Remember what?" he looked puzzled.

"After you're shot, I yelled for help. I didn't have a phone, y'know. I couldn't call 9-1-1 and I didn't no what to do to stop the bleedin'," I said. "And then out of nowhere this stranger showed up. He was very calm, and he knew what to do, like, he's been in some kind of situation like this before. He saved you."

"Do you remember anything, Raph?" Leo asked. It was his first time hearing the story of the stranger.

Raph shook his head.

"We should thank the man, Michelangelo," dad's deep voice said. I turned around and saw him coming into the ward.

"Dad!" I exclaimed. Master Splinter had come home yesterday, but he was totally occupied with Raph's condition; we hadn't gotten to see him a lot before he left again.

"I was very curious about this stranger you speak of," he said in an amused voice.

"He told me his name, it's Kevin," I said. "But that's all."

"What does he look like?" Leo asked.

"He looks pretty ordinary. I didn't remember his face well. It was dark out there and he wore a cap."

"He reminds me of your character, Michelangelo," dad said.

"Yeah, isn't your guy's name Kevin too?" Raph said.

"It's just a coincidence," I frowned.

"Maybe it was a miracle, Michelangelo," dad said warmly.

"That's impossible," I said.

"No, it is actually possible, my son," dad said with a smile, "I am not saying this man is sent by god. No. It was a coincidence, too. Something this universe worked out for us due to reasons we could not comprehend."

"I don't get it," I said.

"You do not have to, my son. You have a very good heart, and that is the most important thing. You prevent our family from falling apart during my absence—Donatello has told me your effort, my son. And this stranger was maybe a manifestation of your good volition."

"Oh," I blushed, but confused nonetheless.

"Just stay the way you are, Mikey," Raph muttered. I glanced at him; he showed me a hearty grin in return, which was very un-Raph.

"Someone fix Raph," I pinched Raph's cheek and he winced.

"I'll tell them to reduce the dose next time," Leo sighed.

-O-

Before I left, I suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Leo," I said, "Ya owe Raphie somethin'. Y'remember?"

Leo scratched his chin, "Uh, oh."

"C'mon," I said, watching him closely.

"What's that?" Raph asked.

"Okay, Raphael," Leo sighed, turning to Raph; the latter frowned.

"Whoa, what's with the full name?" Raph smirked. "I'm sensing somethin' bad."

"I am sorry, Raph," Leo said, "I was kind of…being a…"

"Bastard? Or nagging grandma?"

"—A tyrant?" Leo said with a sigh, "I've been ruling you like you're soldiers."

"Oh forget about it Leo. I _was_ the bastard," Raph said, which surprised us all.

Leo gave a smothered laugh, "Yeah, you kinda were. But I've been wrong, too. I should've talk to you before we started all yelling and accusing."

"Nevermind," Raph shrugged, "But your Spartan strategy sometimes pissed me off, really."

"You've made your point clear," Leo smiled, "I'll improved it. _A good captain is always open for suggestion in the process of decision, _said _Captain Ryan._ Hey, gotta watch the new episode of _Space Heroes_. I'll come home tonight, Mikey."

"I'll give ya a new suggestion:_ Space Heroes_' the stupidest show ever on earth," Raph said.

"You're gonna leave Raph here, alone?" I asked Leo.

"I'll be fine, Mikey," Raph said, "Ol' Fearless needs rest. He's got a whole empire to lead, can't afford to fail here."

"Oh, it's alright. Leo'll make it up for you," I said, "We've already talk through this."

"I don't need him make it up fer me," Raph frowned.

"Oh-ho-ho, wait, it's not up to you, Raphie," I held up my hands. "And Leo's agreed. Right, Leo?"

Leonardo gave a nonchalant snort, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"He will tend you before you get well," I said, "He's agreed to, um, tie your shoelaces for ya, help you to the toilet, dress you, bathe you—"

"Wait a sec, _bathe me_? I don't need him to bathe me!"

"What? Then how are you goin' to bathe?" I questioned, "You don't seriously think you can just jump out of bed and run to the bathroom to take a quick shower, do you?"

Raph was speechless for a moment, and then he opened his mouth to protest, "Tie my shoe and clean my shoe and do my chores…fine, but anythin' concerning bathroom has ta be ruled out."

"No way, Raphie," I said.

"Geez, you're doin' this on purpose right?" Raph looked at me disbelievingly. "Is this some kind of a penalty?"

"Nuh-uh, I'm serious," I smiled.

"He's serious," Leo said in dismay. "And if it's a penalty, trust me…it's my penalty."

"Oh God," Raph groaned.

* * *

><p>[Raphael]<p>

Leo had blue eyes. _And they gave him those painkillers again, after Master Splinter left for some matters in the dojo._

He always thought Leo's eyes were black, since they were so dark. But they were not pitch-black, and not deep brown.

They were deep blue.

_Weird color_, he thought.

"Ya got blue eyes," he said out loud.

"Yeah?" Leo shrugged. He was adjusting the blanket for Raph. He was ready to leave and go home.

"Always thought they're black," Raph said, "Weird."

"Maybe they've faded."

"Eye colors don't fade," Raph snorted, "How ridicules is that?"

Leo chuckled, pulling one of Raph's arms—the one that was hooked up with the IV—out and laid it on the covers.

"By the way, when did you get that _tat_?"

"What?" Raph narrowed his eyes as he flushed deep red. "Did you—? Oh geez. My God. Did you tell Splinter?" he groaned.

"Oh, no," Leo smirked, "I didn't tell him. But if you don't behave, I'll tell him."

"You're threatenin' me?"

"Well, I don't exactly have some useful bargaining chips around here. And we're still afraid that you might just run off once you get better."

"I'm not runnin' away," Raph said drowsily. "Trust me."

Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Really," Raph said, his head started to spin a little due to the drug, "I know I've been an asshole, Leo. But I've been thinkin'…'bout stuff. After that night I mean. An' I regretted many things. Y'have no idea."

"Oh, really," Leo's blue eyes softened.

"Yer the best bro," Raph said suddenly, "I mean the best brother anyone could ask for. Especially a jerk like me."

"Drug-talking again," Leo smirked.

"I'm gonna regret sayin' this tomorrow," Raph laughed quietly, "But ya know I've always been sorta hard on ya. When I thought I was gonna die, I kinda wish I hadn't done all those stupid things. An' I thought I should've just said how I admire ya. Geez," he snorted, waving his arm weakly, "Go home already, your stupid show's 'bout ta start. Don' miss it."

"I change my mind," Leo said, "next time I'll tell them to give you a stronger dose. I'm beginning to like this new guy."

"G'night Leo, go home and rest," Raph waved his arm again.

Leo put on his jacket, and smirked the last time. "Why would you want a turtle on your butt anyway? You know it's gonna stay there forever."

"Geez, someone shoot me please," Raphael grunted as Leonardo disappeared at the doorway. The ward fell back to silence. The drug was still troubling him, but he knew once he closed his eyes he'd be able to sink into deep slumber.

—End of chapter eleven.

* * *

><p><strong>-AN**:

For those who didn't get it, Raph had a tatoo of a turtle on his butt.

The quote in the beginning in the chapter, I saw it in a movie (_Samsara,_ a very great and artistic film but can't watch it if you're under 18. I watched it before I was 18 though) years ago and I've been thinking about it ever since. The realization of its meaning just sort of dawn on me lately.

I listened to_ Violent Femmes_' songs while writing the chap. I just discovered recently that there are such genres like folk punk and cowpunk (country punk). It's like a whole new world to me! Oh god!


	12. People and Reality

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-AN: **

Haha, accident occurred. I decided to write another chapter before the epilogue. So the epilogue will be the next chapter, and I think this time there will be no accident.

And thank you all for the reviews: **LovelyLittleStrawberry**, **tmntlover2013**, **cup-mikey-gertha**, **Guest**, **ducky mikey**, **mikeysgirl228** and **Blogger9999999**!

_Haha I thought the tat would be illegal, but I believe Raph could find someone willing to give him lol. He might have some, uh, association with some strange crowd (not necessarily a bad crowd though) which is not our norm._

And **to Blogger9999999**:_ I listened to the song! I liked it when someone recommend me songs or movie or stuff haha! I'm an extremely music-driven person (wonder what the heck is that). Very interesting. If the Raph in my story remind you of that song, then I think you give him a lot of credit! And I'm happy about that 'cause I always think he's more than a hothead...especially after I watched the 2007 movie. Thank you! I'm still thinking about what my second human AU should be..._

Anyway, hope I can write more often now. My overloaded schedule sorta knocked me down but hey, what? I'm still standing on my feet...miracle.

Enjoy and review!

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twelve: People and Reality<strong>

[Michelangelo]

Raph told me how it all started.

It had been about almost two months ago, in the locker room after a practice of the football team.

"_What the hell's goin' on_, I thought," Raph said. "I just got out from the shower ya know, and all of the sudden the place just so noisy like they were havin' a party or somethin'. Can't miss out all the fun, I was thinkin'."

_But it was hardly fun, except for those who gathered around Timothy Williams._

"He told them they're gonna end up in jail, and the guys just laughed," Raph said. "If ya saw their face, I tell you, you'd think they're insane. Their faces were…_inhuman_, I don't know, that's the best word I can come up with, Mikey. They told Tim, _yeah, poor thing, go tell your mother about this. We'll be watchin' you._

"I don't know how Tim knew about it. But it sounded like they were dealing drugs in school and Tim saw them. And now they were beating the hell outta him to shut up his mouth," he shook his head. "Tim's a naggin' bitch, but he ain't got the guts to tell somebody y'know. There's no need to scare the poor guy that bad. They just liked it. See some blood, hear people cry and scare those who're weak. That makes them feel powerful, superior. Ain't that sick.

"I used to think they are good people, actually," he said all of a sudden in another tone, confused. "Especially on the field. I'm not talkin' about creeps like Fang, but other guys on our team. But when it comes to the old game of playin' bullies, they're suddenly bloodthirsty or somethin'. It's like, completely different."

He frowned.

"What do you mean, Raph?" I asked, "You mean they're not that bad?"

"They're not evil by nature that I'm sure, but that day in that locker room, they're like demons. It was like…somethin' evil in them were…_roused up_. Even it was small, it was still kinda…disturbing."

"What did you do then?"

"Of course I went to Tim an' gave him a hand, got him on his feet. I told the guys to let it go. _This ain't cool_, I told 'em. And they just laughed."

"'_What do you know about it, Hamato?' _they said in a mocking voice. "'_Com'on, let's teach this big boy a lesson. It'd be fun. Join us.'_"

_They started coming closer, and Raph shoved them off. They pushed him back. He knocked one guy's jaw and that guy fell._

"We sorta pushed each other back and forth a couple of times before it became a real fight. 'Course nobody else's goin' to be on my side. More and more people were comin' into the room and they either just stood there watchin' the show or joined the other side."

_He could handle three of them, four of them, hell even five of them. But not six, seven, or more._

"And finally Coach came in, I thought this madness's goin' to end," he said, "But no. He just asked me, _why would you fight them, Raphael? You should be joining us_, all the time smilin' like a lunatic. And he cheered for them. Geez. I thought it wasn't real. Maybe it's a dream of some sort. But _it was real._ I knew some of the guys in the team ain't clean, but hell, who'd think they're all mad like some…_fuck_…I don't know. And Coach told some other boys to grab Tim, and he told 'em to hit him until I…I a-apologize for beating the first three boys. He said, _they're my men, and nobody touches my men—this is the honor of the Purple Dragons._ An' I said his honor can go to hell."

"Tim's cryin' like a three-year-old an' that's horrible. So I said sorry. They let Tim go, but he wouldn't let me go. He left some guys to take care of me. Just makin' sure I wouldn't be a threat in the future. An' I tell ya ten against one's real fun."

"Anyway finally I was left alone. I took my stuff, all of my stuff, and left the goddamn place. I decided I don't wanna come home. Later that night I ran into this guy, who had been there in the locker room, watchin' me gettin' beaten up an' gigglin' like a girl. I almost killed him right there on that street ya know, but I stopped myself before I do somethin' I'd regret. I told him, _tell the others to leave Tim alone, and quit this perverted shit, or I'll take them out one by one, in the dark. They better watch out._ The guy's so scared he almost pissed himself. Ha."

His eyes flared in a way that made me worried a little. He was breathing rather hard. I passed the water bottle to him. He muttered a _thanks_ as I plugged the straw into his mouth.

"After that I just wandered around, hopin' I could find another one of them and have some revenge. But no luck. Instead at about 12 a.m. I bumped into Miss Morris when I was in this store buyin' a pack of cigarettes. And yeah of course she interrogated me. Why I was wanderin' out there and all. I just asked her if she had issues too 'cause she was also there buying herself some snacks an' liquor. She told me she lived on the block and I told her nice neighborhood. She asked me why I looked like I just got hit by a bus. So…I sorta told her about Tim and the football team. That's how she knew. I told her I had to go home so as to get away from her. But I guess she could tell I was lying. I went to Casey's that night—his dad let me stay without askin' too much question, very considerate, ha. And I told Casey we should teach these punks some lessons, let them know there are still people who care about justice. And that's it. That's how Casey and I started doin' this what-do-ya-call-it, vigilante stuff."

Now I remembered something. It was maybe a couple of days after Raph's football incident. He went home finally. Dad grounded him as usual, and he ignored it as usual. But I actually remember it quite clearly—the night he went home.

He had looked a bit off. I don't know if anyone else had noticed, but that was how I thought. He had ask me to come into their bedroom, and when I came in, he just stared at me and muttered something weird to me like, _gotta stay outta trouble_ or be _careful at school_, stuff like that.

"I guess you don't want anyone else to know this story?" I mumbled.

He shrugged.

"It's alright," he said quietly, "I don't care anymore. You can tell 'em if they wanna know."

Raph had behaved like a good kitty the first few days in the hospital, maybe because he was too weak to protest. He let us take care of him most of the time, but after he gained some strength he started to act like his old self again—he wouldn't let us touch him, or sometimes even get near him. And he got angry a couple of times and only I was able to calm him down.

The first few days he and Leo were…getting along nicely. Raph did what Leo said, and they didn't even quarrel. But after a while the magic wore off and they started to butt heads again. I don't know which one's better, temporary peace (a little bit weird) or the norm (irritating but normal). But I thought it was not as bad as before, at least they'd talked to each other now. So, _yeah, good news._

* * *

><p>[Raphael]<p>

After Donnie came to pick Mikey up and they all went home, he was left alone in the hospital. It was alright, not as bad as Casey had described. Then he remembered the locker room; it was still vivid in his memory. He didn't tell Mikey how bad it was, or how it hurt his fucking pride—_oh really? Ya wanna talk about pride? Ya still think you have pride, Raphael Hamato?_ The whole team's watching. Cheering for his defeat. Their familiar faces fading into nameless crowd. _It was—_

He hadn't cried. He was just…_angry_ maybe. Or maybe he was angry because he wanted to just cry in frustration but he wouldn't let himself do so. _What if he cries now?_ Would it change anything?

_No_, he thought. He had tossed his helmet into a trashcan after he got out of the room. He wouldn't need it in the future anyway. He hadn't wanted to go home that night because he couldn't let his family see him in his fucked-up state. But Miss Morris saw him. And asked him what had happened. _What had happened_, he smiled bitterly at her. She really thought she could help him. Really nice. _Really._ Almost patronizing. He didn't need anyone's help…he didn't need…

He found himself holding back the funny feeling up in his nose again. Oh man. He became so weak after the goddamn bullet struck him. He wished he never started the adventure, but he knew he couldn't change the past. And guess what, if he went back to the past and told himself that he had to stop whatever he was planning to do, or he'd end up very bad, he (of the past) would not listen. He'd do it anyway. _What a badass,_ he laughed at himself in self-loathing.

Miss Morris had looked him in the eyes and asked him what happened. _I got run down by a truck,_ he told her. She told him he should go home. _Why was everyone telling him to go home?_ Casey had told him that, too. Yeah, now he really missed home. Hospital was not that bad, but not pleasant, either. Why didn't he tell Miss Morris about the locker room? He couldn't tell Casey because that's damn humiliating, but Miss M was a girl, she wouldn't have laugh at him. She'd look him in the eyes with this motherly gaze or something.

And Splinter had looked into his eyes in the same way, too. Days ago, just shortly after he woke up from the surgery. Splinter had forgiven him, right?

And he just told Mikey almost everything. Mikey didn't judge him.

He knew he could trust Mikey.

Now he couldn't hold it back anymore.

He turned his head to a side as he wiped his tears on the pillow.

O-O-O

Many people came to visit him.

Casey was the first one. He was in the hospital anyway, a different floor though. He walked into the ward with a cane under his armpit.

"How ya doin', tough guy," Casey smirked.

"I feel like I just got paroled. Ya know the feeling?"

"I know," Casey laughed. "Can't afford to screw things up again."

-:-

And then there was Miss M.

"The principal announced the news to us, saying one of our students got shot in the neighborhood," she said, "and I hoped it wasn't you, but it was you."

He smiled. He then made a decision—he's going to tell the school about the coach.

-:-

Tim Williams came once with a grave face.

"I ain't dead," Raph just frowned.

"I told you they're dangerous," Tim said.

Raph decided that maybe Tim just need more time to wind down. The guy was a little bit oversensitive.

-:-

And guess who came everyday.

Fearless leader Lame-o-nardo (_or Mikey's new nickname for him: Lemonaderado_), genius Donny-boy and the most annoying creature in the world—Michelangelo.

And of course Splinter, their father.

Mikey had been overly hyper since the incident. He'd be too exited when a good thing happened, but be thrown to the deepest valley when something bad occurs. Fortunately he was gradually recovering from the shock. He came to visit Raph everyday after school and would hurl a thousand irrelevant questions at his face. _How does the food in hospital taste like? Does the old dude next bed snore? Has that old man's daughter come to visit her father yet? ("…No? Poor fella.") Does he think his muscles' gonna shrink after he gets out of the hospital?_ So on and so on. If Raph didn't lose his patience, he'd answer all of them, but sometimes they just gave him nothing but headaches.

Donnie was a constant company. He'd bring his laptop with him and type his paper or stuff quietly at the bedside, while Raph'd read a magazine or watch the small TV in the ward. The comfortable silence between them was occasionally broken by Donnie's mutter and Raph's comment (_"Maybe if you focus more on your stupid paper and less on that idiotic news of the…whatthefuck is that? ...**collider** you'd be able to hand the paper out tomorrow, Donnie."_)

Leo showed up less often than the younger brothers, but when he was there he almost always had, _in Raph's opinion_, something to nag about. _Did you sneak out again today Raph? C'mon, the nurse told me,_ or, _You gotta swallow that pill Raph, you know I'll call you to remind you about it later when I got home._

And he didn't like the idea that Leo was gonna help him every time he couldn't do a thing on his own—_at first they didn't even allow him to shave himself, Geez_—but it seemed like there were no other choice. Except that if he rather wanted Splinter to do the job.

Guess not.

However, there wasn't really anything he could complain. He was, honestly, glad to have everything back to normal, surrounded once more by the noisy, sometimes annoying, but, yeah, sometimes cozy company of his brothers. He'd caught a glimpse of Mikey's slightly worried smile, Donnie's reassuring gaze, or Leo's stern, but concerned face, and he'd feel that warm rush flowing in his chest.

It was nice to be back. Really.

* * *

><p>[Michelangelo]<p>

The night Raph went home from the hospital, we ordered three pizzas.

You might think that's a bit too much, but trust me, the Hamato brothers never say no to spare pizza—one of my top ten favorite pizzas!

We gathered around the small table in the kitchen—we didn't have a dining room in our small apartment. I sat between dad and Leo, while Donnie and Raph sat opposite us.

"All girls ever said to me was, _aww, Mikey, you're so cute,_" I mimicked the tone, and they wouldn't stop laughing.

"What else do you expect, Mikey?" Donnie asked.

"I'd like them to say, _oh, how gorgeous you are, Michelangelo,_" I said.

"Gorgeous? You must be kiddin'!" Raph burst out laughing, choking on his coke and spitting it back into the glass. Donnie rolled his eyes and I heard dad's faint sigh.

"Man, it's not fair! Even Donnie got someone hitting on him once in a while!" I protested.

"What? You mean that time me an' Donnie went to the mall?" Raph asked, grinning.

"Donnie?" Leo frowned.

"Oh, 's not like that, we just have a little chat with the girl who sales ice-cream on the third floor," Donnie said, blushing.

"You ate ice-creams without me?" I cried.

Raph ignored me. "Not a chat, Donnie boy. She_ flirted_ with us—bet that word doesn't exist in yer dictionary so stop bragging your vocabulary—She was like, _oh, you're twins?_ But her eyes were like,_ gosh, they are the hottest twins on earth._ And I said, _yeah, ya need someone to fix your printer just ask Donnie here, but if ya want someone to fix you, ya gotta come to me, babe._"

I caught a glimpse of dad's disproving glare at Raph, and I laughed.

"Not fair," I said, "How come Raph can say something like that without sounding gruesome?"

"It's gruesome to my ears," Leo muttered.

"Geez, don't listen to Fearless, Mikey." Raph smirked, "You can't learn anything from that guy. He'd ask those gals if they flunked their trig or somethin'."

"Yeah? Did you ask Karai that, Leo?"

This time it was Leo who flushed. "I did ask her once if she need any help on the final exam."

"Oh, man, that's all you got?" Raph cried.

"Knock it off, Raph," Leo sighed, "I'm not gonna say something like that."

"What, you don't think I can fix her?" Raph grinned, "It's damn useful. I got her phone number."

"When?" Donnie looked shocked.

"After ya went to see those smartphones," Raph said, "I went back ta talked to her…"

I wasn't paying attention to the conversation anymore, because suddenly dad called my name, "Michelangelo?"

"Yes?" I turned to him.

"Are you all right, my son?" he asked.

"I-I'm fine!" I exclaimed, "Uh, why did you ask, Dad?"

"Nothing," he said mildly, "It's just that you were staring. Makes me wonder if something's wrong."

"Nothin's wrong," I said, shaking my head slowly, "It's just…"

I swallowed and took another slice of pizza.

"It's just that I'm…happy to see everyone's here," I said, finishing my sentence, "It's so nice that it's unreal."

"Ah, my son, it is unreal," dad smiled, "This moment too will pass. But the feeling is real, and that's the most important thing. My point is: why hesitate? Enjoy this evening, Michelangelo."

"Yeah," I sighed and smiled, too. "I guess I will."

—End of chapter twelve.


	13. Epilogue: The Way Back Home

**Stranger Whistles**

by TJ Hector

* * *

><p><strong>-AN:**

Finally, the last chapter. I think this is a bit too long for an epilogue? But I feel like calling it the epilogue anyway.

And for **ducky mikey**, **Guest**, **InsaneDutchGirl**, **Raigon**, **turtlefanforlife1982**, **Blogger9999999**, **tmntlover2013**, **cup-mikey-gertha**, **Athese**, and **Bluestar-TMNT-warriors**.

**...Thank you for the reviews, guys! **

As usual I'm thrilled to see your feedbacks and I felt that I have to work harder on the ending of the story so as not to disappoint you.

**To Blogger9999999:** I'm so glad you like the story so much my friend! Thank you again!  
><strong>To InsaneDutchGirl:<strong> I hope your teacher has returned your phone to you? :P Or should I send out ninjas to snatch it back for you? (_wow I'm able to do that? just kiddin'!_)

_-In this chapter there are some Japanese words:_

_keiko_: kendo sparring practice.

_nito ryu_: a fighting style wielding two sword.

_men_: a kind of helmet protecting your head and face during kendo sparring.

**-Disclaimer:**

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!). And the text of Ave Maria (but I suppose Sir Walter Scott, Storck and Schubert won't sue me, right?).

**-So, on with the happy ending I promised!**

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue: The Way Back Home<strong>

_-*Four months later*-_

_[Michelangelo]_

"Hey, Raph," I was surprised to see him. He was climbing the staircase leading to our dojo at third floor, while I stood on the platform before the door of the dojo and about to enter.

"S'up Mikey," he took off his wet gloves and stuck them into his coat pocket.

"Uh…you think ya can do this?" I asked.

"Don't see why I can't," he raised an eyebrow, "Ya wanna get in there or what?"

I pushed the door open and went inside.

Inside the dojo it was warm. The first thing we saw was Leo's back against us. He looked like he just finished _keiko_ with dad (I mean Sensei, now we're in the dojo). Leo now had private trainings on _kendo_ with dad, because he was eager to perfect his _nito ryu_ skills; and dad promised him to give him a real _katana_ for his graduation present—_not that you can use it somewhere, but it's an honor for Leo._

Dad was standing near the far end of the dojo, kneeling on the floor and taking off his protecting gears.

"Ah, Michelangelo!" he exclaimed amiably, "and—"

Due to the limited sight and hearing inside his _men_, Leo didn't notice us coming in. I had a glimpse of Raph sneaking up on Leo at a side-glance.

"_What—_"

"_TOO LATE LEO!_"

I turned toward the noise and saw Leo being tackled down by Raph.

Leo shoved Raph off with a sigh.

"Wow, you shouldn't do that Raph," I said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Raph grinned and sat up. "Just havta gain some weight back."

"He wanna look like a gorilla again," I rolled my eyes.

-O-

"Um, so, where had you been? When I woke up nobody's home," I asked Raph when we were putting our bags and stuff in the room at the back of the dojo. _Ah, I hate it when I wake up in an empty house, I mean apartment._ Even though Leo had told me he was going to leave early and Donnie had said he had to go to the lab first before he met us in the dojo, it still felt weird. You'd think you'd find Raph lying in bed like a sleepy lion when you finish making breakfast. After I slid those wonderful bacons into two plates, I ran to Raph's room to wake him up and found an empty bed instead; I knew _breakfast's just gonna break my heart._

"Casey and I went to a walk."

"Casey and you went to a walk WHAT? You're eighty years old married granny and gramps? Sunday morning! And it's freezin' out there!"

"Hey, it's not what you think," Raph said, "We went to check some meeting spot of the Dragons. See if they met last night y'know."

"What for? I thought you quit this stuff! You said it's dangerous and you promised us y'll never do it!" I cried furiously.

"Oh hey, calm down Mikey," Raph clutched my arms and gave me a sheepish smile, which was really weird on his face, "It's just a…bad habit. I promise I won't do anythin' about it, alright?"

"Oh god Raphie," I shook my head. "You know my bacons went to waste." _Now I'm actin'. Call me the queen of drama queens, if you will._

"You made me breakfast? And _don't call me that._"

"Yup, I didn't throw them away. They went straight to the fridge and they won't taste as good now and it's all your fault!"

O-O-O

After the practice, Leo, Raph, Donnie and I went to gather our stuff and change our clothes.

I wiped my brows with a towel, and fumbled in my backpack to find my spare T-shirt.

"You bring any clothes to change?" I asked Raph.

"Yeah, I got a shirt in my coat pocket." He raised his coat and started to search through the pockets.

"No wonder they all looked like cleaning rags," Leo muttered.

"Whatever," Raph said, pulling his soaked shirt off. "As long as I can wear 'em."

I couldn't help but stare at the healing scar under his right ribs.

"What," he caught me staring.

"So…does it still hurt?"

"Yeah if you press on it," he shrugged.

"How does it feel like? Having a bullet scar on ya," I asked.

"Actually, nothin' special."

"I suppose you are going to use that on girls?" Donnie said wryly.

"Wow good idea Genius," Raph grinned.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "_Raphael and his 101 ways to attract girls._ I have to write a book on that. No, wait, we can make a TV series."

"Whoa don't say it like a bad thing, Donnie," Raph put an arm around him, "I'll teach you some tips. It's actually quite simple. Step one—"

"_Ask her phone number and step two, meet her at her place,_" Donnie sighed. "If it's only that simple."

"It is!" Raph locked Donnie's neck with his still-incredibly-strong arms. "I bet you can have this girl _what's-her-name_ in a week…"

"April's not that kind of girls okay, Raph?" Donnie frowned and pushed him away.

"Whatever ya say, Brainiac," Raph smirked and put on his shirt, which _really looked like a rag_.

"Mikey, aren't you gonna change?" Leo asked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." I jumped, realizing all of a sudden that they were all waiting for me.

O-O-O

We were in our car. Leo was driving. I took shotgun, while Donnie and Raph sat on the backseat crowded with Leo's _kendo_ gears. Dad stayed at the dojo because some friends had come to visit him.

I glanced back and saw Raph leaning against Donnie's shoulder, half-asleep. Raph, now a size smaller and his wild hair covering his forehead and cheekbones, looked younger than Donnie. I was struck suddenly by the degree of their resemblance.

"You two really look alike," I said. "Man it's eerie. 'Cause Donnie's supposed to be cute and Raph's supposed to look like an ape."

"Watch your mouth Mikey," Raph mumbled.

"We're twins," Donnie said.

"—Not a hundred percent identical, but we shared some DNA," Raph smirked, his eyes still closed, "I know you're gonna say that right, Genius?"

"Yeah," Donnie sighed.

"And I thought you hate your hair long," I said.

"No, gonna start a band, gotta keep 'em wild," Raph said. "Nah just kiddin'. I'm not really that into grunge."

"A band? Really?" Leo frowned.

"But you can't play a single instrument," Donnie said.

"Whatever, I can sing."

"He actually does," Leo sighed, "Man, I wish I could stop him."

"_FEARLESS~_" Raph sang in a croaked falsetto and I burst out laughing.

"Actually a good voice is what we have in common," Donnie said matter-of-factly.

"Really? Show me," Raph turned to him.

"_A-ve Mari-a, ju-ng Frau mild—_"

"Oh, geez, stop. I know your Schubert, Donnie. Please stop," Raph groaned.

"That's unfair," Donnie protested, "And it's not a religious piece, it's actually from an opera and it's commonly sung in Latin text but originally it had a German text—"

"Oh I know I know, the song's one of _Ellens Gesang_, even I know about it coz you've told me a thousand times! Now stop plaguing us, _Diva_."

"Nice, D. D for diva!" I cheered.

Leo laughed. _That's rare. You don't get to see the guy laugh often._

"_Aus diesen Felsen starr und wild—_"

"Knock it off Donnie!" Raph shouted, laughing at the same time.

"_Soll mein Gebet zu dir hin weh-en..._"

"Hey guys stop!" suddenly I yelled like crazy, "**_Pull over Leo! Pull over!_**"

"What?" Leo asked, but he parked the car along the sidewalk as I said.

I threw the door wide and hopped off the car.

"Where YA GOING MIKEY?" I heard Leo cry behind me.

"**_I thought I saw something!_**" I shouted back.

-O-

I saw _him_. He was there, walking among the pedestrians.

_Looking ordinary._

"Hey!" I cried, "_KEVIN!_"

He didn't hear me. He didn't stop.

"HEY KEVIN!"

He turned, confused.

I ran like a madman, never stopped until he was right in front of me.

"Remember me?" I said through my pants, "I'm Michelangelo, ya saved my brother. Do you remember?"

His puzzled look turned into an understanding expression.

"Yeah," he nodded, "How are you? Is your brother alright?"

"He's fine and all," I smiled, "Thanks to you."

"Don't mention it," he said. He still wore a cap and a scarf, except this time it was a blue scarf.

"My family wanted to thank you, if you—"

He shook his head, smiling. "Please, just go on with your life."

I tilted my head.

"Kid," he said, "Some things are meant to happen."

"Yeah."

"Some things are meant to happen, whether they are good, or bad."

"Uh-huh."

He smiled again, patting my shoulder. Unlike his words, his touch felt heavy, but real.

"Everything happens," he said, "It's the way it is, Michelangelo."

_What is he trying to say?_

"I-I don't get it."

"You will," he smirked, "Yeah, you will. One day."

He adjusted the brim of his cap and raised an eyebrow.

"Anything else you want to say to me?" he asked gently.

"Just _thank you_, actually." I replied.

"Thank you, too."

"_…__Why?_"

He shrugged. "I _touched life_, when I'm out of it. Good-bye, Michelangelo."

"Bye, Kevin," I said, suddenly feeling a loss. "I'm not gonna continue the story, _'Stranger Whistles'_, is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, sure, like I said, go on with your life." He studied my face. "And I'll go back to my life."

"Sure," I said, "Take care."

"You too, kid. Remember to _whistle._"

I watched him disappeared into the crowd. And I whistled on the way back to our car. I didn't know which song I should do, so I picked Raph's favorite song.

-O-

"Who were you talking to?" Raph asked when I got back into the car. _(I heard Donnie correct him in a mutter, "Whom, Meathead."_)

"Kevin."

"Who the heck's Kevin?" Raph frowned.

"You mean the man who helped you when Raph was shot?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah."

"But…I saw no one," Leo said with amazement. "You were just…standing there, Mikey, talking to the air."

"No, I was talkin' to this guy!"

"Seriously Leo, you saw no one?" Raph leaned in between the front seats.

"Yeah," Leo said.

"Seems like you saw a ghost, Mikey," Donnie muttered.

"No, I didn't!"

"It's your overly active imagination, Mikey." Leo turned the wheel and glanced at me.

"Whatever," I pouted, "You guys just don't believe me."

"How about I actually do," Raph said all of a sudden, after a long silence.

"You believe me?" I turned around, pulling the seatbelt to its limit.

Raph shrugged, "Why not, it's better than you goin' nuts."

"Hey!"

"Okay, I believe you for no specific reason," he sighed. "Com'on, some guy had to save me, or else I'd be lyin' dead right now. Y'know sometimes ya think there's no one single person there isn't a goddamn snob or a merciless prick, but you sorta get surprised when things like this happened."

"Yeah I thought nobody was gonna hear me crying for help," I said. "Or maybe they were just ignorin' me. And that's horrible."

"Can't lose faith in humanity, Mikey," Donnie smiled.

"Or you'll be like Raph, walking around hitting people with a wooden bat," Leo commented good-humoredly.

I saw that Raph was going to protest, so I quickly interrupted him.

"Anyway," I said, "What do you guys want for lunch?"

"Anythin' that doesn't come from Fearless' hands." Raph said, "Yesterday he was…let's just say he tried to poison me and Donnie."

"Aww, don't worry, genius cook is here to save your day," I said.

"We really appreciate it, Mikey," Donnie said.

"Come on, it's not that bad—_What are you doing Mikey?_" Leo cried as I rolled down the window.

"I like some wind."

"Are you tryin' ta freeze us?"

"You'll catch a cold Mike."

I stuck my head out of the car, and after a second or two, I saw Raph's head sticking out from the back window.

"Yer fuckin' _nuts_!" he cried, "Close the goddamn window!"

"Man, you looked so funny!" I laughed, "You looked like an angry kitty with your hair all blown 'round like that!"

He sighed and retreated back inside. And then I started to feel someone pulling me back to my seat.

"Mikey, come on," Leo said. The car stopped in front of our apartment building. I unbolted the door and jumped out in a blink.

"Hey eat this Raphie!" I shouted, grabbing a handful of snow as Raph stepping out of the car.

"I'm gonna kill you, Mikey!" he grunted when the snowball hit him on his face. "An' _stop callin' me_—_OH!_" Another icy ball hit him on his brow.

"Come get me then!" I laughed and ran towards another side of the car. "Donnie, you're next!"

"Please leave me out of this," Donnie moaned.

"No chance!"

"Hey Mikey," suddenly Leo's voice came behind my back, and then the next moment my world became upside down.

"Oh put me down LEO!" I cried, "NOT FAIR!"

Leo laughed. "Donnie! Snowball him!"

"Oh yeah!"

"You're goin' to pay guys!" I tried to threaten them, but all I could see were Donnie and Raph's upturned laughing faces.

And when I saw that, I couldn't help laughing, too.

We laughed all the way back home.

—The End.

* * *

><p><strong>[Below is my stupid rambling; ignore it if you want]<strong>

Life sucks—_especially life as a teenager_—in many different ways _in my stupid opinion (only?)_, but somehow you always find a way to go on. I don't know. Maybe you'd see your brother's smile or something or a friend would say something to you. Anything. Life is awfully close to death, and when will we cross the line? Nobody knows. Anyway, just find the way to go on, cuz if you go on there's always possibilities. Ha. It doesn't matter, really. It's just what I think. Maybe it's childish. But I don't want to grow up if it means I have to stop being foolish. LOL.

And why Raphie and Mikey. Because I like the bond between the two! In the 2k12 ep Invasion of the Squirrelanoids, there's a scene in which Raph sat on the floor of Mikey's room while Mikey lay on his bed, and the two of em's just…being idle. It kills me every time watching that scene. It_ kills_ me literally. Oh MAN I can't help it! GAH!

BTW, I've tried to come up with a sequel and it's called _The Longest Sunset_. Haven't uploaded it yet. But I'm working on it! If you're interested, keep an eye out for my update! It's gonna be RAWER, I'd say.

See ya! my friends.


End file.
